Festival in Motion presented by Qatar Creates will offer a major international dance and music programme with over 55 site-specific performances at some of Qatar’s most significant architectural landmarks. These performances will be held from 5 to 20 December, coinciding with the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™.  

Festival in Motion was conceived by Qatar Museums Chairperson, HE Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and co-curated by two internationally acclaimed artists – French choreographer and filmmaker Benjamin Millepied and renowned American composer Nico Muhly.

Millepied is the artistic director and co-founder of the influential L.A. Dance Project, choreographer of the film Black Swan, and former Director of the Paris Opera Ballet. Muhly’s music, meanwhile, has been performed at the Metropolitan Opera, English National Opera, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Carnegie Hall among others.

Festival in Motion

The 13-day programme showcases more than a dozen exceptional artists from around the world. Audiences can view the performances for free in different exceptional locations across Qatar – at different museums, public art installations and heritage sites.

According to HE Sheikha Al Mayassa, the Festival in Motion will combine the discipline of dance with architecture, art and music.

We hope that these performances will inspire people to think of the unlimited possibilities of creativity.

Benjamin Millepied will appear in his own work for a special one-night-only performance with the L.A. Dance Project on 20 December with live music by Nico Muhly at Richard Serra’s East West/West East installation.

Some performers and choreographers featured in the festival are appearing in the Middle East for the first time, including:

  • Paris-based choreographer, hip-hop dancer and Mazelfreten artistic director Laura Nala 
  • American choreographer, L.A. Dance Project company member and former New York City Ballet Principal Dancer Janie Taylor
  • Pioneering Moroccan choreographer Bouchra Ouizguen
  • Choreographer and founder of La Termitière in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso Salia Sanou
  • American visual artist, choreographer and dancer Madeline Hollander
  • Celebrated contemporary Bharata Natyam dancer/choreographer Mythili Prakash, who will present a new commission and solo work featuring an international cast of US-based musicians
  • Contemporary dancer Brigel Gjoka 
  • Pioneering abstract b-boy Rauf ‘Rubberlegz’ Yasit
  • composer and musician Rusan Filiztek, who will perform Neighbours, a work produced by Sadler’s Wells and first presented in March 2022, inspired by their time with legendary choreographer, William Forsythe
  • American choreographer, dancer and actress Bobbi Jene Smith, whose work was featured at the Opéra de Paris
  • Pioneering Japanese choreographer and dancer Saburo Teshigawara
  • Choreographer and dancer Dimitri Chamblas will join forces with one of the boldest women in rock, American musician, songwriter and visual artist Kim Gordon
  • Choreographer and dancer, former soloist with the National Ballet of Canada and Principal Dancer with Ballet Frankfurt Jill Johnson 

L.A. Dance Project

Co-founded in 2012 by artistic director Benjamin Millepied, L.A. Dance Project presents daring works in traditional venues and unconventional settings across Los Angeles and worldwide. The opening of its own studio and theatre space in 2017 has allowed them to create and premiere their work in Los Angeles and cement it as a destination for world-class dance in Los Angeles.

The company’s 18 dancers perform a repertory that includes commissions by new and established choreographers, revivals of important historic works, and interdisciplinary collaborations.

The 13-day, free programme will take place in these locations:

  • National Museum of Qatar
  • Museum of Islamic Art
  • Museum of Islamic Art Park, heritage dhow boats
  • Olafur Eliasson’s new public artwork, Shadows Travelling on the Sea of the Day at Al Zubarah
  • Historic Barzan Towers in the village of Umm Salal Mohammed (North of Doha)
  • Public art installation by artist Tony Smith, Smoke, at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center
  • Al Wakrah Pier (Souq Al Wakrah)
  • Richard Serra’s Seven, Museum of Islamic Art Park, Doha Corniche
  • Doha Central Post Office, Central Plaza, off Doha Corniche
  • Richard Serra’s East West/West East, Brouq Nature Reserve in Zekreet

For more information on the full programme, including dates and times of performances, visit events.qacreates.com. Tickets are not required to watch the performances.  

For more information about Qatar Creates and the One Pass, visit qacreates.com.

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