This conference will be held by Raïssa Leï who is director of North-Africa and Middle-East dances groupe Kif-Kif Bledi which is based in Paris.

Raïssa Leï is Amazigh (Berber) from a Zenet tribe from East of Morocco. She is a versatile dancer practicing, performing and teaching both North-African dances and Waacking.

She created more than 12 years ago her own fusion mixing North-African Amazigh dances with hiphop and clubbing dances.

Context

Raïssa Leï shared for years international stages and festivals with plenty of fusion dancers from different styles or formats created in the USA: FCBD, Salimpour, ex-Tribal Fusion, Gothic fusion, Fantasy fusion...and many more.

As a descendant of an Amazigh tribe she has always wondered if the dancers were aware of the symbols and importance of the elements they borrowed from the Amazigh culture in a decontextualized way: Ouchem (tribal marks), outfits, jewelry, music, amazigh / arabic words, muslim first names as stage names, movements, colonial pictures and postcards, religious / Kuran references.

This community found a strong inspiration in pictures of black and white Amazigh women dating from before the independence of North African countries. People found them vintage and beautiful as they are not.

These images are colonial, propagandist, orientalist and hide controlled and abused women and girls.

So how to know what is real or not ?

Purpose of this conference

As she has been asked by several fusion dances practionners to give her opinion about USA fusion dances like FCBD (ex-"American Tribal Style"), Salimpour and references like the "Tribal Bible" book, she methodically reviewed all aspects and is sharing the result of her researches through this conference.

This was a painful work. The aim is only as an heritage responsability to pay tribute to Amazigh culture in a pure vision as we are an oral culture so all written information during colonisation are biased.

Content of the conference

• Who are Amazigh people
• USA fusion dances inspiration from orientalism and french colonial context
• French archives videos and pictures explanations and contextualizations
• Confusion between Amazigh, Arabic, Oriental and Muslim cultures
• Ouchem (Amazigh Tribal marks) and meanings
• Abused Amazigh women and girls used as models by USA fusion dances through colonial pictures, videos and postcards
• Amazigh dance moves, semantics, clothes, jewelry, language influences in USA fusion dances
• Questions & Answers

If you already attended to the 2 previous ones: would it be different or not?

Not exactly as I have new information and interviews (for example with Suhaila Salimpour or 3 hours french documentary about colonisation) since last edition of March 2021.

• This edition will be 100% conference, no interactive exercices like the previous ones to make you focus on information. 
• If you need specific focus I am still giving private coachings but accepting only if your goals are to highlight and give tribute to Amazigh people.