A COMMAND FROM INSTITUT FRANÇAIS DU LIBAN - LBN (2015)

Body Swap – a collective cultural project between Lebanon, Germany and France – imagines three choreographers who are immersed in each other’s worlds and daily lives, mirroring one another in a residency dealing with intimacy and sharing.

Each choreographer took turns hosting the two other participants in their homes for ten days. They shared their intimacy, as well as their private and professional circles and, together, worked and absorbed everything surrounding them throughout this period.
The final stage was the performance entitled "Who led my Gazelle astray" presented in Beirut in French Institut on September 2015 .

Body Swap was a unique and long-term dialogue between Europe and the Middle East. It was both an open and guided encounter between three dancers, all of whom are from different horizons and cultures.
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It was an encounter of 3 bodies, of what brought them together and differentiated them, as well as the fantasies they produced.
We used strategies of imitation, of sharing knowledge, and of interpretation. We explored the inherent potential of miscommunication and of getting lost as a means of interacting between one another and making new discoveries.
We developed a work method, one of permanent movement, fuelled by our cultures, our desires, our training, our stereotypes, and our projections. This was a spontaneous stroll through gestural and sonic heritage.
Ali Chahrour, Hermann Heisig & Mickaël Phelippeau
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Body swap was a joint project between the Goethe-Institut in Lebanon and the Institut français du Liban, receiving financial support from the Franco-German Cultural Fund in 2015, and bringing together three dancers / choreographers: Ali Chahrour (Lebanon), Hermann Heisig (Germany) & Mickaël Phelippeau (France)