The opening of the 2026 Dance Season pays tribute to Mourad Merzouki, one of the pioneering figures behind the transformation of hip-hop dance from a street practice into a theatrical art form.
Active since the late 1980s, Merzouki has led Compagnie Käfig since 1996. It is in Bologna that the company will celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of its foundation.
Chosen to inaugurate the season, Beauséjour is a reflection on the passing of time — a choreographic fresco through which the veteran of hip-hop revisits his artistic journey while casting new light on the defining elements of his creative language: the body, energy, and the search for beauty.
“I look at the worn body, the body that has lived, the body marked by time and pain,” says the choreographer. “Nostalgia here is not a bitter feeling; it is a living force that is reborn and unfolds.”
The specially created electro-Latin soundtrack by Gotan Project founders Müller & Makaroff evokes the convivial atmosphere of a French guinguette, beautifully brought to life by scenographer Benjamin Lebreton. Within this vibrant environment, the words of MC and urban poet Fafapunk can also be heard.
The performance becomes a meditation on the inexorable passage of time and the transformation of bodies, affirming that beautiful dance is both universal and transgenerational.