Currently in its early research phase, Niswa is a new dance performance work that examines how bodies of Arab and North African women are viewed by the Western gaze, and that challenges the Western colonial expectations from these bodies in performance.

In Niswa, we, a group of Arab and North African women, explore how we can reclaim the presence of our bodies in performance away from orientalism and Western fetishization.

Niswa defies the expectation of displaying female Arab and North African bodies as eroticized and commodified, ready for consumption by the colonial orientalist gaze. Niswa breaks the stereotype of Arab/North African female dancers needing to entertain a Western audience or needing to be rescued, feeding the white saviour fantasy.

Choreographer and founder of Jasad Dance Projects, Meryem Alaoui, is delighted to be joined by dance artists Mona El Husseini (MTL), Roula Said (TO), Corinne Skaff (MTL) and Esraa Warda (NYC) to continue their research together during their TDT residency, from April 28th to May 9th, 2025.

The residency will culminate in an open rehearsal/public showing on Friday May 9th, 2025.