[Kawa, a solo for two people] 

A pile of white coffee cups clanging together and then a dancer – Hafiz Dhaou – slowly but surely struggles out. “Coffee in the morning silence, early and unhurried, the only silence in which you can be at peace with self and things, creative, standing alone with some water that you reach for in lazy solitude.”

Hafiz Dhaou and Aïcha M'Barek found a resonance in the verses of this Palestinian poet, Mahmoud Darwich (Memory for Forgetfulness, 1982) that they used to choreograph a solo in the shape of an awakening, that took them back to the source and to the pure essence of their work. After having created several group pieces, the two choreographers felt the need to move away from the constraints of producing a show and to resist all types of pressure. Kawa, solo à deux, is, therefore, “under pressure, first of all bitter, then its taste mellows and remains perfectly black, somewhat burning and mysterious”.

Further information

Company website

Updating: January 2012

Aïcha M'Barek and Hafiz Dhaou were born in Tunis, and now live and work in Lyon. They formed the CHATHA Company in 2005 and have been creating their shows together since then.

After joining the Conservatory of Music and Dance of Tunis, they joined the Sybel Ballet Theatre in 1995, and also participated in various projects of Fadhel Jaziri. At the same time, they studied cinema at the Institut Maghrébin de Cinéma (IMC) in Tunis.

In 2000 they joined the CNDC in Angers, and received for this a special scholarship from the French Institute in Tunis.

Aicha then obtained a Master IUP Métiers des Arts et de la Culture at the University of Lyon 2, and became a dancer for the choreographer Sophie Tabakov / Cie Anouskan.

On his side, Hafiz danced for Abou Lagraa from 2003, and followed the E.X.E.R.C.E training directed by Mathilde Monnier at the CCN of Montpellier.

He also participated in several Héla Fattoumi and Eric Lamoureux pieces and became an Associate Interpreter at the CCN of Caen on various projects.

The two choreographers created their first duet Khallini Aïch in 2004, then Khaddem Hazem in 2006, VU in 2008, at the Lyon Dance Biennale, then Kawa, solo for two in 2010. In 2011, at the invitation of the Ballets de Lorraine-CCN Nancy they created Un des Sens, a choreography for 28 dancers.

KHARBGA - jeux de pouvoir and Do You Believe me? were created in 2011, then the duo Toi et Moi in 2013. They created Sacré printemps ! in 2014 and Narcose in 2017, finally Ces Gens-là ! in 2018 and L'Amour sorcier in collaboration with the Jazz musician Jean-Marie Machado in 2019.

2010 is an important year for the two choreographers, as the company opened up to the international scene : in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, North America... It was also an opportunity for the two artists to establish a remote correspondence, which became the matrix of Kawa, a solo written with two hands. This piece marked in a more global way a turning point in the life and evolution of the company.

In 2011 and 2012, they were appointed artistic directors of the Festival Les Rencontres Chorégraphiques de Carthage Tunis Capitale de La Danse. They were also given several carte blanche at the MUCEM - Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations in Marseille, at the Kampnaguel in Hamburg, in Limoges at the Festival des Francophonies in Limousin. They collaborated on the Dewan Symposium in Jordan, and both joined the Orientation Committee of the Institut Français Paris for the Triennial Dance Africa Dance until 2020.

Aicha & Hafiz are also involved in university training courses for which they are choreographer-teachers, in Tunis, Lyon and Grenoble.

Finally, the company has been in residency at Theatre Work Theater Singapore in 2009, Toboggan, Décines in 2010, Théâtre Louis Aragon, Tremblay-en- France in 2012 and 2013, MOUSSEM, Centre Nomade des Arts Anvers & Bruxelles in 2014, at the Maison de la Danse de Lyon in 2014 and 2015, at the 2 Scènes, Scène Nationale de Besançon in 2016 and 2017, at Bonlieu, Scène Nationale d'Annecy - long-term residency from 2016 to 2018, then Artists Associated with the CCN, Belfort Franche Comté Viadanse from 2016 to 2018.

They are currently Artists in Residency at the Arsenal - Cité musicale-Metz in 2019 and 2020, in residency also at the Esplanade de Divonne and in the Department of Ain from 2020 to 2023, in residency at the University Lyon 3, and Associated Artists with the Espace des Arts scène nationale de Chalon-sur-Saône from 2020 to 2025.

Cie Chatha - April 2020

La force de leurs spectacles tient à leur capacité de montrer des corps traversés intimement par la politique : la répression, l’effervescence révolutionnaire... Soubresauts, convulsions : sous leur direction, les danseurs explosent en scène. Attentats chorégraphiques. 

Since 2001, the National Center for Dance (CND) has been making recordings of its shows and educational programming and has created resources from these filmed performances (interviews, danced conferences, meetings with artists, demonstrations, major lessons, symposia specialized, thematic arrangements, etc.).

Artistic Direction: Aïcha M'Barek, Hafiz Dhaou

Creation: 2005

Aïcha M’Barek and Hafiz Dhaou were both born in Tunis and have been creating together since 1995. Alongside their performing careers, they developed a common approach to choreographic composition. In 2004 this led to their creating the duet “Khallini Aïch” (Let Me Live) for Repérages de Danse, Lille. In 2005, they founded the Chatha company with which they created the quartet “Khaddem Hazem” in 2006 and “Vu” in 2008. In 2009, he created the play "Mon corps est un pays" (My body is a country) as part of a Franco-Tunisian university project involving for one year round-trip students from Grenoble and Tunis.
In 2010, they traveled a lot and created remote "Kawa solo à deux", interpreted by Hafiz. They participate in the 2010 Paris Biennale de la Danse and create "Mon c (h) oeur qui bat" with 150 inhabitants of Décines-Meyzieu as part of their residency at the Toboggan, Décines. In the same year, they made the first appearance at the Bonlieu Scène Nationale in Annecy.
In 2011, they create "KHARBGA - power games", a play for six dancers that represents a turn in tandem work.
In 2012 and 2013, Aïcha and Hafiz are in residence at the Théâtre Louis Aragon in Tremblay-en-France where they create the multidisciplinary project "TRANSIT" and sign in 2013 the creation of a duo "Toi et Moi".
For the season 2014-2015 Aïcha M'Barek and Hafiz Dhaou are artists associated with the House of Dance of Lyon, they create "Sacré Printemps!", Play for 7 dancers, outside the walls at the Toboggan, Décines. Also in 2015, following the commission of the French Institute of Tunisia, they develop a training and creation project and stage their first play "The Life is a Dream" by Caldéron by inviting David Bobée to co-sign the play.
In 2016/2017, they will be present in Avignon with "Narcose" Bonlieu Scène National d'Annecy 's creation. The Besançon Museum of Fine Arts and the National Scene of Besançon, both scenes, invite the two choreographers and their team to design and stage a participatory project around the city, its population and their relationship with the works of the museum Of the fine arts of Besançon. They are also invited by the Kampnaguel to create "These people there!" in Hamburg, a project to imagine around the great port of Hamburg.

Source: VIADANSE - Centre Chorégraphique National de Franche-Comté à Belfort

More information

www.chatha.org (in construction)