Guest Curator Mourad Merzouki

French choreographer Mourad Merzouki is one of the most influential figures in contemporary dance, transforming the language of hip-hop on stages in France and around the world. For more than 30 years, he has crafted a distinctive artistic style shaped by his early passions for boxing, the circus arts, and the raw expressive power of hip-hop. His gravity-defying works combine innovative movement, unexpected music, and striking design to create exceptional new works. 

Merzouki discovered hip-hop at the age of 15 and quickly emerged as a visionary of movement. In 1996, he founded Compagnie Käfig, a company that has since become internationally renowned for its inventive, genre-bending productions. Since then, he has created over 37 innovative works, often incorporating live musicians, kinetic sets, or choreography that seems to defy gravity. 

Beyond the stage, Merzouki is dedicated to supporting the next generation of dancers and choreographers. He founded the Centre Chorégraphique Pôle Pik, a hub for hip hop training, and launched the Kalypso Festival, which has become a celebrated showcase for hip-hop dance companies. 

So, what inspires an artist whose own work is all about blending worlds and breaking boundaries? We asked Mourad what he watches on Marquee TV. 

(Psst.  Want to learn more about Mourad? Check out the documentary Dance Alchemist, and follow Mourad as he crafts an exciting new work.)

Mythologies – Ballet Preljocaj

Angelin Preljocaj’s Mythologies is a sweeping contemporary ballet inspired by ancient myths. Performed by Ballet Preljocaj alongside the Ballet de l’Opéra National de Bordeaux, this work reveals the power of archetypes while blurring the line between past and present. The core of the work is an imaginative and cinematic ballet score composed by Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter, where each movement unfolds into a weird and wonderful mythic world. This is a meeting of minds, styles, and creativity that will leave you transfixed. 

Why Mourad Loves it:

 “I can’t recommend Angelin Preljocaj’s artistic work highly enough. He is one of the greatest choreographers of contemporary dance today. In Mythologies, he takes his inspiration from founding myths to create a piece that combines the dancers of Ballet Preljocaj and the Ballet de l’Opéra National de Bordeaux, set to music by Thomas Bangalter, ex-member of the electronic music group Daft Punk. I love this kind of mix! Bringing styles, genres, and disciplines into dialogue has always been what drives me, and here Angelin Preljocaj does it with great talent.”

  Zero Degrees – Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Akram Khan

A landmark collaboration between four world-renowned artists, Zero Degrees is a powerful fusion of dance, music, and visual art. Created by choreographers Akram Khan and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, visual artist Antony Gormley, and composer Nitin Sawhney, the piece explores the idea of borders. Borders between people, nations, and even life and death. Cherkaoui and Khan fuse Kathak (a form of classical Indian dance), contemporary dance, and physical storytelling to create a new choreographic language that speaks louder than words. With a striking set design and a meditative live score, this is a landmark work in the landscape of 21st-century dance.  

Why Mourad Loves it:

 “Zero Degrees is a project that was born of Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s desire to create a duet with Anglo-Bengali choreographer and dancer Akram Khan. It deals with the fragility of human life, with music performed live by Nitin Sawhney. It’s a superb, intense piece that really moved me. I admire Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s career for its variety, its many collaborations with artists from all walks of life and all disciplines.”

Les Indes Galantes – Bavarian State Opera

Opera meets street dance in this bold reimagining of Rameau’s Les Indes Galantes. Directed by Philippe Béziat and choreographed by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, with contributions from Clément Cogitore and Bintou Dembélé, this production brings together 30 dancers from the worlds of hip-hop, krump, and voguing, with opera singers and Baroque musicians for an opera experience unlike any other. Starring soprano Lisette Oropesa as Hébé and Zima, Ana Quintans as L’Amour and Zaïre, and Goran Jurić as Bellone, Cherkaoui seamlessly integrates the singers into the choreography, blurring the lines between vocal and physical expression. The result is a vibrant burst of styles that reimagines a classic for the modern stage. 

Why Mourad Love it:

“Les Indes Galantes, directed by Philippe Béziat, with the help of Clément Cogitore and Bintou Dembélé, brings together 30 dancers from hip-hop, krump, and voguing backgrounds with the original musicians and opera singers of this masterpiece to create a contemporary version of Les Indes Galantes, committed and modern. Above all, it shows a human adventure where artists from different worlds meet, discover each other, and learn to work together. Even if every show is different, the feelings of this kind of adventure are the same, and every artist can identify with what is shown in this documentary, which makes it so accurate and fascinating.”

 A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Shakespeare gets a bold 21st-century makeover in Russell T Davies’s film adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Created for the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, the production features a stellar cast including Maxine Peake (Shameless, The Theory of Everything) as Titania, comedian Matt Lucas as Bottom, and The Mummy’s John Hannah as Theseus.  Blending fantasy with a political bite, Davies’s cinematic flair gives a witty, magical, and sharply resonant take on Shakespeare’s classic.

Why Mourad Loves it:

 “Russell T Davies’ film revisits Shakespeare’s classic play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with a humorous homage. In 2023, in collaboration with the Orchestre des Arts Florissants, now led by Paul Agnew, I drew on Shakespeare’s comedy to create The Fairy Queen, a funny, fairytale fable which, more than 300 years after its creation, continues to amaze. This was my first collaboration on an opera, bringing together musicians, singers, and dancers around this joyful fable. A total operatic experience, resolutely young and new, where the art of yesterday meets the art of today, for the greatest pleasure of the senses! I absolutely recommend this film, as it offers another perspective on a legendary work.”

Note: This title is only available in the USA, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.

Dancing Free 

What happens when dance enters a notorious Marseille prison? In this powerful documentary, Angelin Preljocaj brings dance workshops to Beaumettes prison. Over four months, he worked with five women serving long sentences to build a new collaborative dance piece, an experience that reshaped their sense of identity and freedom. Dancing Free is an incredible and inspiring story about the transformative power of dance.   

Why Mourad Loves it:

 “The story behind this documentary is so inspiring! Choreographer Angelin Preljocaj spent several months offering dance workshops to women in prison to create a piece that was then performed in several theatres. I think this project symbolizes all that dance can bring to everyone: its ability to come to places where it’s not expected, to allow everyone to let their creativity develop, and ultimately, to allow everyone to express themselves, to escape their everyday reality to experience extraordinary human adventures!”

Folia –Mourad Merzouki 

Hip-hop meets Baroque in a brilliant collision of styles, cultures, and centuries. In Folia, Mourad Merzoiku blends the fiery rhythms of the Italian tarantella with Vivaldi’s timeless melodies and the contemporary energy of electronic composer Grégoire Durrande. Joined by musicians from Le Concert de L’Hostel Dieu, dancers move through a jubilant celebration of rhythm, tradition, and pure creative invention. 

Why Mourad Loves it:

 “Unexpected encounters between two universes – a priori that everything opposes – are part of my artistic approach. Through my creations, I have never ceased to take hip-hop to new horizons, to confront it with other musical worlds and other bodies. In Folia, hip-hop dance meets baroque music of the Concert de l’Hostel Dieu, but not only: contemporary dance, classical dance, or a whirling dervish are intermingled. This show is a real challenge. I wanted to provoke this popular music, not well known by the general public, with electronic sounds to propose a new approach to choreography. I also wanted to make the barrier that often separates the dancers and the musicians porous by integrating the latter into the choreography. The challenge of this new adventure is to surprise the public and to erase the stereotypes!”

Phénix – Mourad Merzouki

Looking for Baroque with a modern twist? Choreographer Mourad Merzouki’s Phénix brings the soulful voice of the viola da gamba, a 17th-century cousin of the cello, into an electrifying conversation with hip-hop dance. Four dancers move with explosive energy against the hauntingly beautiful sounds of a historic instrument, creating a dialogue that feels both intimate and unexpected.  Anonymous French electronic artist Arandel adds a pulsing electronic soundscape to the mix, bridging the gap between old and new. Phénix is dance, music, and alchemy rolled into one. 

Why Mourad Loves it: 

“This piece, which breaks the codes between musicians and dancers, was born from an unexpected and singular encounter between the viola da gamba and dance. On stage, the artists also perform with additional electronic music by Arandel to reinforce the power of this unexpected association. Pursuing my approach of opening up and confronting aesthetics, I wanted to bring together disciplines that everything opposes, to create a light and singular form. In an intimate atmosphere, the artists cross their universes to present an original piece, sublimated by their alchemy!”

From reimagined Baroque masterpieces to daring collaborations that bring dance into prisons, Mourad Merzouki’s playlist is as fearless and inventive as his own body of work. Each of these performances reflects what makes him such a visionary, a belief that art should break boundaries, spark encounters, and invite everyone into the conversation. Whether you’re a long-time dance lover or simply curious about where creativity can take you, these picks are the perfect entry point into a world where tradition meets innovation.