Duration:
1 hour 40 minutes
Part of The Gathering, a programme curated by Omar Rajeh
Free admission
In case of rain: LAC, Hall
The Gathering:
Dance People
Omar Rajeh
© Tommy Ga Ken Wan
Piazza Luini
Past event
13 June 2026
21:30
The Gathering:
Dance People
Omar Rajeh
© Tommy Ga Ken Wan
Piazza Luini
Past event
13 June 2026
21:30
In the latest work by the choreographer and dancer Omar Rajeh, the boundary between audience and performer dissolves. Staged outdoors in the picturesque setting of Piazza Bernardino Luini, overlooking Lake Lugano, the performance challenges power structures and involves the audience in a shared choreographic experience, where participation becomes an opportunity to rethink presence, hierarchy and encounter.
Dance People is a title that speaks for itself: it places community values at the heart of artistic creation, affirming their presence through the sharing of space with citizens and opening up new ways of being together.
In a world driven by intelligent algorithms and artificial intelligence, some of the most pressing questions concern encounters, gatherings and forms of coexistence.
What is the space for democracy, culture and identity? How does one create a space, how does one protect it, how does one inhabit it together?
With a diverse and highly sensitive artistic group, Omar Rajeh and Mia Habis invite the audience to take part in a collective creative moment. The work is joyful and festive, yet remains at the same time lucidly critical of power and the dynamics of supremacy.
Dance People is not a performance to be observed from a distance: it is a gesture to be shared, a space to be inhabited.
artistic concept, direction and choreography
Omar Rajeh
co-artistic direction
Mia Habis
performance
Elise Bruyère
David Cahier
Francesco Ferrari
Julie Louise Bjelke
Clara Cafiero
Jihun Choi
Cristian Cucco
Mia Habis
Nunzio Perricone
Omar Rajeh
music composition and live interpretation
Mathias Delplanque
Ziad El Ahmadie
(based on the album of L’Ombre de la Bête)
voice
Abdul Karim Chaar
researcher
Tom Helmer
scenographic concept and architecture
L.E.F.T. Architects (Makram Kadi & Ziad Jamaleddine)
visual artist
Estelle Piatoni
interactive experience
Tamanoir Immersive Studio
(creative director Sam Lecoeur / producer Rémi Large)
lighting design
Guy Hoare
relighting
Tom Pritchard
video graphics and animation
Jimmy Elias
technical assistant
Julien Laurent
dramaturgical advise
Peggy Olislaegers
production and coordination
Valentin Crepain
administration
Sandrine Orlando
co-production
Edinburgh International Festival,
LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura
Festival Aperto / Fondazione I Teatri di Reggio Emilia,
International Dance festival München,
Kunstfest Weimar,
Euro-Scene Leipzig
creative residency
CND Lyon,
CND Pantin,
Festival de Liège / Manège Fonck,
Fabbrica Europa,
Mufatthalle - The Venue for International art and culture in Munich,
Les Subs-Lyon,
Montpellier Danse
supported by
Centre National du Cinéma et de l'Image Animée (CNC),
DRAC Auvergne Rhône-Alpes