At the New York Aliance’s 2022 Crossing The Line Festival Moroccan choreography by Fouad Boussouf brought a troupe of 7 dancers to the stage. The need to understand the art form being presented and the insitu of the dance apparent to us was, like being there without prior knowledge of any meaning. The movement reveals narrative as much as it delineates the dancers from anything other than what the dance is to the music. An ambience of sounds and shape shifting arrangement of garments and intensity in their body language describes the hip hop influence and the street performer’s occupation in a public space.

This happenstance choreographed in the fashion of hip-hop presented elegance from their channeling of that human spirit, in urbanization, and a balance communicated independently expressive of themselves. In the audience, I sat next to a local choreographer, Valerie Green, and together we experienced something through music and dance that sent a vibe across the stage. The 7 dancers felt especially in harmony with their bodies, and we felt part of this rhythm change, in the beat of the music, to the gentle wave of their gesturing. Every time a dance jumped, or together they took heavy steps that shook the stage.