An intimate yet universal portrait of struggle, resilience, & belonging.
“I come from a place where just one tile can be a stage”, this is how Egyptian choreographer and dancer Islam Elarabi describes his autobiographical solo. Elarabi combines contemporary dance with the movement vocabulary of mahraganat, the popular music style that emerged in Cairo in the early 2000s (as a powerful expression of a rebellious young generation and also known as the “sound of the revolution” since the Arab Spring).
Power, pride, fear, anger and joy take shape in a dance that balances physical strength and poetic sensitivity. Just One Tile conveys the urgency, hope and desire for freedom of all those who continue to dance in defiance of all forms of oppression.
