Context

• Born in Anvers Belgium in 1976, to a Flemish mother and Moroccan father, Cherkaoui grew up in a multicultural, multilingual household with his father speaking Arabic, Spanish and French and his mother French and Dutch
• Translation


  Was always a very important part of my life. In Belgium we are surrounded by other cultures so we tend to be very focused on understanding others
• At school he was good at languages and mathematics and enjoyed folk dance classes
• At home he loved to draw
• He was raised in Belgium, and we pride ourselves on our painters and artists that work within the visual arts so I think that was a big influence, visualising reality by drawing
• During his teenage years Cherkaoui loved watching Bruce Lee films fascinated by the Kung Fu movement in them
• Hip Hop was just beginning to influence mainland Europe and inspired by the music videos he saw on television, Cherkaoui began imitating artists such as Janet Jackson and Prince
• Whilst working for TV he was encouraged by the other dancers to attend classes so he began learning jazz, ballet, hip-hop, flamenco and tap
• In 1995 at the age of 19 Cherkaoui, encouraged by his ballet teacher, entered a dance contest for the Best Belgian dancer, organised by Alain Platel (founder of les ballets C de la B)
• He won first prize for his solo performance that he had choreographed combining vogueing, hip-hop and African dance
• Wim Vandekeybus was on the jury for the contest along with someone connected to the school of Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker (P.A.R.T.S – based in Brussels) and they suggested that Cherkaoui enroll at the school for the three-year training programme
• There he studied the techniques of William Forsythe, Trisha Brown and Pina Bausch. It was a very eclectic dance school that really allowed you to touch on very iconic contemporary dance styles and it was so inspiring to be there
• Having experienced contemporary, modern, classical and pop culture dance it helped him to define his own criteria and find his personal voice within it
• Cherkaoui was invited to join les ballets C de la B in Alain Platel's 'Let op Bach'

  1997
• Cherkaoui's debut as a choreographer with Andrew Wale's 7 contemporary musical, Anonymous Society


  1999
• Since then he has made over 50 fully-fledged choreographic pieces and picked up a slew of awards, including two Olivier Awards, three Ballet Tanz awards for best choreographer (2008, 2011, 2017) and the Kairos Prize (2009) for his artistic vision and his quest for intercultural dialogue
• Cherkaoui's initial pieces at les ballets C de la B


  • Rien de Rien (2000)
  • Foi (2003)
  • Tempus Fugit (2004)
• Parallel projects that both expanded and consolidated Cherkaoui's artistic vision


  1. D'avant (2002) with Damien Jalet at Sasha Waltz & Guests company

  2. zero degrees (2005) with Akram Khan
• From 2004 to 2009 Cherkaoui was based in Antwerp as artist in residence at Toneelhuis, which produced Myth (2007) and Origine (2008)
• Cherkaoui premiered Sutra at Sadler's Wells, a collaboration with artist Antony Gormley and the Shaolin monks

  2008