Under the Flesh is a personal reflexion that rises the question of how the body reacts in situations of war and danger and how this survival condition can be turned into a kind of dance with its specific technique.

Bassam Abou Diab is a young Lebanese choreographer. He has been dancing with Omar Rajeh|Maqamat for several years. He was also part of the intensive dance training program Takween in 2010 and 2011, where he worked with choreographers such as Marcel Leemann, Emilyn Claid, Thierry Smith, Luc Dunberry, Marco Cantalupo, Anani Dodji Sanouvi, Radhouane El Meddeb, Jens Bjerregard, Kristina De Chatelle, Damien Jalet and Franceso Scavetta. Bassam has also performed in theater plays in Lebanon with directors such as Ossama Halal, Rouaida al Ghali, Badih Abou Chakra and Malek Andary.

choreography and direction: Bassam Abou Diab
performed by Bassam Abou Diab
music composition: Samah Tarabay
duration: 30′

The Focus Arab Young Choreographers project has been designed with the goal of facilitating mobility, intercultural dialogue and exchange of performative practices among Arab artists and the realities of the Italian territory, creating opportunities of encounter, work sessions and presentations of performances.
Between May and October 2017 – within the various artistic projects, festivals, showcases, residencies of the eleven organizations belonging to the network – the Focus presents seven young choreographers coming from countries of the Mediterranean basin: Sharaf Dar Zaid (Palestine), Bassam Abou Diab (Lebanon), Hamdi Dridi (Tunisia), Mounir Saeed (Egypt), Charlie Prince (Lebanon), Jadd Tank (Lebanon), Guy Nader (Lebanon).
The young artists, selected from the BIPOD-Beirut International Platform of Dance, and in collaboration with Beirut Maqamat Dance Theater, MIBACT and MAEC, will tour Italy from Turin to Matera, presenting their shows, sharing their poetics and deepen within artistic residencies their own researches.

The organizations that have joined the project are
ACS – Abruzzo Circuito Spettacolo / Festival Corpografie – Pescara; Associazione Armunia / Festival Inequilibrio – Rosignano Marittimo; Associazione Basilicata 1799 / Festival Città delle 100 scale – Potenza e Matera; Associazione Danza Urbana / Festival Danza Urbana – Bologna; Associazione Culturale Mosaico Danza / Festival Interplay – Torino; Associazione Triangolo Scaleno / Festival Teatri di Vetro – Roma; C.L.A.P.Spettacolo dal vivo / La Strada Festival Internazionale – Brescia; Anghiari Dance Hub – Anghiari – Fondazione Fabbrica Europa per le arti contemporanee / Festival Fabbrica Europa – Firenze; Inteatro Festival / Marche Teatro – Polverigi e Ancona; LaMamaUmbria International – Spoleto