The Need to Dance

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui is regarded internationally as one of the world’s most original contemporary choreographers. Filmmakers Peter and Petra Lataster follow this highly productive Flemish-Moroccan choreographer and dancer throughout a period in which he works concurrently on several projects: the premiere of a dance piece in Gothenburg, the first rehearsals for a new piece in Brussels, and performances of existing work in Antwerp, Madrid and Saint-Étienne. While watching his effort, concentration and dedication at rehearsals and onstage, a long interior monologue reveals that a dancing career was not an obvious choice for this son of an Islamic Moroccan father and a Catholic Flemish mother – although the recurring conflict with his dominant father turned out to be the driving force behind his artistic development. Cherkaoui reflects on his mixed background which provides artistic fuel through a combination of Flemish surrealism and Arabic calligraphy. He reminisces about the music videos of Michael Jackson and Madonna, whose choreographies he learned by heart as a teenager, though it wasn’t until he was 19 when he could really choose to be a dancer – after his father had died.