Morocco

Battery Dance Company showcased for Moroccan audiences the best of the best of America’s modern dance scene with two public performances. One in Casablanca, and another in Rabat. During the trip, the company worked with the U.S. Mission to reach out to a “younger, wider, deeper” audience through an intense series of workshops with young Moroccan dancers and musicians in Casablanca and Rabat during the March 10-17 visit.

Top-notch professionals, the Company members (most in their 20s) also demonstrated their unsurpassed human touch by working with both budding ballet and “urban cool” hip-hop dancers with equal enthusiasm. Embodying at once self-discipline and focus, as well as openness and an egalitarian spirit, the young Americans impressed and disarmed their initially skeptical counterparts, breaking down barriers of language, religion and class to reach the shared common ground of art and human expression.

In the first Dancing To Connect workshop in Casablanca, approximately 50 dancers, ages 18 – 30 attended (all male except for one young woman). Some were from Casablanca and others had traveled several hours to get there. BDC dancers invited the students to demonstrate their own dance routines (break dance was the universal medium). After about 45 minutes of demonstrations, BDC took over.

BDC Dancers Lauren Alzamora and Kyla Ernst-Alper led a group of about 25 interested participants in a class based on Pilates and various dance stretch techniques. Fellow BDC Dancer, Sean Scantlebury, followed with exercises across the floor including jumps and turns. There was a good feeling in the room – of mutual respect and sharing of new ideas.

Ballet, Hip-Hop, Modern and Injury-Prevention master classes were lead by BDC dancers the following day at Moulay Rashid Cultural Complexe in Casablanca. The dancers also presented studio showings of Solo's during this time. The trip to Moulay Rashid concluded with a performance that was attended by approximately 600 people. This included the Mayor of Casablanca and U.S. Embassy officials. The Company was accorded a standing ovation and 50+ audience members and VIP’s waited 30 minutes after the performance to greet and thank the performers.

BDC then traveled to Rabat, where after a lunch meeting and tech rehearsal - the company lead Urban Dance, Ballet, Jazz and Music workshops. BDC musicians felt it was a successful interaction; new ideas were shared on both sides.

The company then moved on to the Circus School in Salé (twin sister to Rabat), where they lead three dance workshops. These workshops went extremely well. The school was very anxious to participate and everyone cooperated in setting up the space appropriately, moving tumbling mats, laying down Marley floor (BDC supplied the tape to adhere the Marley which belongs to the school).
The students worked very hard in each workshop and showed excellent concentration and ability to digest new techniques. Similarly, three music workshops at the Music Conservatory of Rabat also took place with jazz musicians and ganaouas, who are also conservatory students or teachers. The workshops were held by the three BDC musicians; Frank Carlberg, Christine Correa and Yousif Sheronick.

BDC's trip to Morocco Concluded with a Performance at the Mohammed V Theater in Rabat; a Full-house including Ambassador & Mrs. Riley, DCM, Mrs. Bush and various leaders of the government and arts community of Morocco attended.
Hosted by the Ambassador, the Rabat program opened with a widely-appreciated moment of silence in memory of the victims of the recent tragedies at Al Hoceima (earthquake) and Madrid and closed with two groups of Moroccan dancers (one “hip-hop”) joining with BDC in a surprise performance of two pieces prepared at workshops only a day before. The audience was delighted to see “their” boys and girls literally on an equal footing with the American “stars.”

The Rabat performance was a sold-out show (recorded for local Moroccan Television) to an audience of 1,600 spectators, who ranged from young Moroccan “urban cool” street dancers, to two government ministers.