Rhythm of Reverance
Production: Below the Skin
Premiere: September 16, 2026
Shows: September 17, 18, 20, 21, 2026
Venue & Co-Production: Tanzhaus Zürich
Format: Full-length contemporary dance performance
About
RRhythm permeates every aspect of life. It moves through our bodies, our relationships, and the rituals that connect us to one another and to the world around us. Across cultures and throughout history, dance has served as a practice of gathering, expression, transformation, and belonging.
Rhythm of Reverence is a full-length dance production that brings together 10 female-identifying performers across generations, cultural backgrounds, and levels of experience, from professional dancers to participants of the Open Format Workshops 2024/25.
Rooted in artistic research into rituals, movement practices, and dance traditions from diverse cultural contexts, the project asks: What remains of the rituals that once held us together?
Many ancestral practices have faded or transformed over time, yet traces of them continue to live within us, in our gestures, habits, rhythms, and ways of gathering. Rather than reconstructing what has been lost, Rhythm of Reverence explores how these fragments can be reimagined collectively, giving rise to new forms of connection and shared presence.
Through repetition, breath, voice, and collective movement, a living choreographic landscape emerges. Individual stories and embodied memories are woven into a shared physical language that balances individuality and belonging.
The performance unfolds as an immersive sensory experience, inviting audiences into a contemporary ritual of attention, connection, and transformation. In a world marked by increasing fragmentation, Rhythm of Reverence offers a space to pause, listen, move, and remember our place within a larger whole.
Artistic Approach
The choreography is rooted in rhythm-based practices including repetition, breath, pulse, voice, and collective synchronization.
Developed through a collaborative process of collective authorship, the work draws on the cultural, personal, and embodied histories of all participants. Professional and non-professional performers contribute equally to the creation of the piece, bringing diverse experiences, perspectives, and practices into dialogue.
Movement material emerges through shared exploration rather than fixed forms. Rituals, memories, gestures, and everyday rhythms become catalysts for choreography, creating a dynamic interplay between individual expression and collective resonance.
Minimal scenography, sound, and light foreground the presence of the performers, allowing the audience to enter a shared space of attention, embodiment, and encounter.
Touring & Participation
Rhythm of Reverence extends beyond the stage through Open Format Workshops, inviting both professionals and non-professionals to engage directly in the artistic process.
Conceived as a tourable and adaptive format, the work integrates local participants at each location. Through these encounters, the performance evolves continuously, becoming a living archive of embodied knowledge - a growing network of shared experiences across places and communities.
Impact
At its core, Rhythm of Reverence explores dance as a contemporary ritual.
By bringing together performers of different generations, backgrounds, and levels of experience, the project creates spaces for encounter, participation, and collective imagination. It fosters embodied awareness, celebrates cultural diversity, and invites audiences and participants alike to reflect on the rhythms that connect us across time, place, and experience.
Credits
Artistic Direction & Choreography: Aly Khamees
Concept & Production: Jelena Mair
Mentoring: Romain Guion
Co-Creation & Performance: Chien Ching Ying, Maureen Zollinger, Yvonne Sieber, Alessandra Hitz, Antonia Orfanou, Muriel Meyer, Martha Gjikolaj, Amrei Wolfers, Amélia Graber, Lélia Brigatti
Music: Mohamed Shafik
Set & Lighting Design: Iris Rohr
Supported by Stadt Zürich Kultur, Fachstelle Kultur Kanton Zürich, Binding First Dance, Elisabeth Weber Stiftung, Ernst Göhner Stiftung, Stanley Thomas Johnson Stiftung
© Caroline Schmidt
Tickts
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Team & Biographies (Selection)
Aly Khamees
Artistic Director, Choreographer & Performer
Born in Cairo, Aly Khamees is a choreographer, dancer, and actor, and co-founder of Below the Skin. His work draws from contemporary dance, power movement, and Egyptian street dance, forming his distinctive movement language “Bullet and Knife.” He has collaborated with numerous international artists and institutions and is an associated artist at Tanzhaus Zürich.
Jelena Mair
Creative Director, Concept & Production
Jelena Mair co-directs Below the Skin and develops its artistic concepts. With a background in dance, art therapy, and conflict transformation, her work connects artistic practice with questions of social change, resilience, and collective processes. She works at the School of Commons (ZHdK) and integrates interdisciplinary approaches into her artistic research.
Romain Guion
Mentoring & Strategic Advisor
Romain Guion is a choreographer, dramaturg, and cultural manager with over 25 years of experience. He has worked internationally across dance, theatre, and opera, and currently leads professional training programs at Tanzhaus Zürich and K3 Hamburg. His mentorship strengthens the dramaturgical coherence and strategic development of the project.
Chien Ching Ying
Co-Creation & Performance
A long-time collaborator of the Akram Khan Company, she received the UK National Dance Award for Outstanding Female Performance. Her work combines intense physicality with refined presence and spans international stages and choreographic projects.
Maureen Zollinger
Co-Creation & Performance
Swiss performer working across stage and site-specific formats. Her practice combines ecological somatics, voice, and interdisciplinary collaboration, exploring the human body in relation to environment and collective systems.
Yvonne Sieber
Co-Creation & Performance
Zurich-based dancer and choreographer working in contemporary and urban dance. She collaborates with international choreographers and develops interdisciplinary projects across theatre and music contexts.
Mohamed Shafik
Music Composition
Composer, choreographer, and performer from Cairo. His work bridges music and movement, blending contemporary, traditional, and theatrical forms. He brings decades of experience creating interdisciplinary performances across international contexts.
Iris Rohr
Set & Lighting Design
Zurich-based scenographer and lighting designer. Her work is defined by clarity, minimalism, and sensitivity to space and body. She integrates sustainable practices and focuses on enhancing the emotional and spatial dynamics of performance.
For Presenting Venues
Rhythm of Reverence is conceived as a tourable and adaptable production, designed to engage diverse audiences while integrating local communities into the artistic process.
The work is presented by a compact core team and can be expanded through site-specific participation formats. At each location, we offer Open Format Workshops for local participants, whose experiences and movement material can be woven into the performance. This approach creates a meaningful connection between the work, the place, and its community.
What the project offers:
A full-length contemporary dance production with strong visual and physical impact
Participatory workshop formats for professionals and non-professionals
Flexible integration of local performers
A concept that supports audience development and outreach
A living, evolving work that adapts to each context
Technical & Production Notes
Minimal scenography and flexible staging
Scalable cast structure (core team + local participants)
Music and lighting adapted for touring conditions
Ideal for:
Dance houses and theatres
Festivals with participatory or socially engaged focus
Institutions interested in community engagement and contemporary performance
We welcome collaborations with presenting venues, co-producers, and partners interested in fostering inclusive artistic practices and meaningful audience engagement.
Booking & Touring Inquiries:
Project dossier and video links upon request
Below the Skin: belowtheskin(at).proton.me