the transformative power of movement
At the heart of our work lies the belief in the transformative power of dance and movement to connect, heal, and inspire. Through our performances, we aim to explore profound themes that resonate deeply with the human experience, fostering dialogue and reflection across cultures and communities.
©Caroline Schmidt
Join us in 2025 for our Open Format Workshops and experience the transformative power of movement!
Led by artistic director Aly Khamees, these workshops invite movers of all levels to explore dance, collaborative choreography, and creative research.
Whether you're a pro or a beginner - everyone is welcome!
Coproduced by Tanzhaus Zurich
Supported by Stadt Zurich Kultur
©Caroline Schmidt
Rhythm of Reverence
Premiere: September 16th 2026, Tanzhaus Zurich
Shows: September 17th-20th 2026, Tanzhaus Zurich
Tour dates: tbc
Rhythm of Reverence
Rhythm permeates every aspect of life, making it a fundamental part of our existence. Deeply rooted across cultures, dance has long served as a practice of connection, expression, and transformation.
Rhythm of Reverence is a full-length dance production by Below the Skin, bringing together 15 performers of different generations, cultural backgrounds, and levels of experience. Developed through an ongoing artistic research project initiated in 2024, the work explores rhythm as a universal force that bridges body, perception, and social relations.
Through repetition, breath, and collective movement, a shared physical language emerges—balancing individuality and community. The performance unfolds as an immersive, evolving experience shaped by rhythmic intensity, inviting audiences into a space of presence, connection, and transformation.
The project combines stage performance and participation: developed within the framework of Open Format Workshops, it integrates both professional and non-professional performers in a collaborative process rooted in collective authorship.
Rhythm of Reverence understands dance as a contemporary ritual—reconnecting body, space, and community through a shared sensorial experience.
Team
Artistic Direction & Choreography: Aly Khamees
Concept & Production: Jelena Mair
Mentoring: Romain Guion
Co-Creation & Performance: Chien Ching Ying, Maureen Zollinger, Yvonne Sieber, Alessandra Hitz
Movers & Collaborators Names tbc
Music: Mohamed Shafik
Set & Lighting Design: Iris Rohr
Co-Production Tanzhaus Zurich
Supported by Stadt Zürich Kultur, Fachstelle Kultur Kanton Zürich, Binding First Dance, Elisabeth Weber Stiftung
Video trailer of research and 30’ sharing
at the 5th Anniversary of Tanzhaus Zurich and Nude Café
©Caroline Schmidt
Loverage - The final fear
research and sharing:
Loverage: The Final Fear
A participatory dance research sharing (30’)
Loverage: The Final Fear is a 30‑minute sharing of an ongoing choreographic research by Below the Skin. The work asks what moves us when fear no longer leads the way, and introduces Loverage—a fusion of love and leverage—as a quiet yet powerful force emerging through care, attention, and embodied connection.
Through dance and live music by Dino Brandão, the performance explores love and rage as intertwined energies that shape how we remain connected in times of crisis and uncertainty.
Developed through workshops with people from diverse backgrounds, the choreography is rooted in lived experience and collective creation. Bodies respond to one another, support one another, and generate a shared movement language in which care, trust, and connection become sources of strength.
Presented as part of the MovingTowardsZero Festival at Tanzhaus Zürich (30th anniversary edition), the sharing offers insight into an ongoing artistic process by Aly Khamees and Below the Skin. The project is being developed in collaboration with musician Dino Brandão, with the aim of evolving into a full-length stage production for the 2027/28 season.
Festival: MovingTowardsZero
Venue: Tanzhaus Zürich
Dates:
June 27, 2026 — 19:00
June 28, 2026 — 17:00
Credits
Artistic Direction & Choreography: Aly Khamees
Concept & Production: Jelena Mair
Co-Creation, Performance & Music: Dino Brandão
Mentoring: Romain Guion
Performers: (tbc)
Co-Production and supported byTanzhaus Zurich
©Maria Cheilopoulou
Empty City
Premier: 2. October 2024 - 20.00, Tanzhaus
3. – 5. October 2024 - 20:00, Tanzhaus
6. October 2024 - 18:00, Tanzhaus (Relaxed Performance)
«Empty City is a testimony to coping with life and the search for belonging. It's a story of different people coming together and weaving a tapestry of community and belonging that transcends differences in history and faith.» Aly Khamees
Empty City is inspired by the mysterious City of the Dead, an ancient necropolis in the centre of modern Cairo. There, graves and mausoleums that once served as final resting places have been transformed into houses that the living and the dead now inhabit together in a bizarre way. In Empty City, people take centre stage in an artistic reflection on the complicated dance of life in a rapidly changing world. Seven dancers bring their own stories to create a performance that celebrates resilience, cohesion and the transformative power of community. A universal story about the human spirit that survives and thrives even in the most difficult of circumstances.
Team
Artistic Director / Choreography Aly Khamees
Creative Director / Production Jelena Mair
Coach / Outside Eye Romain Guion
Dramaturgy Tanzhaus Zurich Simon Fröhling
Co-Creation and Performance Alina Aegerter, Amélia Graber, Chien Ching Ying, Issue Park, Nadika Mohn, Vanessa Morandell, Reiner Heidelberg
Music Composition Marcel Gschwend
Light & Stage Designer Iris Rohr
Photography Maria Cheilopoulou
Film Caroline Schmidt
Co-Production Tanzhaus Zürich
Partnership Orient Production (Tour Management)
Supported by Stadt Zürich Kultur, Fachstelle Kultur Kanton Zürich, Binding First Dance, Anne-Marie Schindler Stiftung, Elisabeth Weber Stiftung, Migros Kulturprozent, Schweizerische Interspretenstiftung SIS
©Hitzigraphy
NASLAH
Premiere: 21. April 2023, Tanzhaus Zurich
How do norms and stigmas become entrenched in our consciousness, and how can we break free from these inner prisons? Aly Khamees addresses these questions in his powerful and thought-provoking dance solo, Naslah*. Inspired by the rich tradition of Egyptian street dance with knives, which dates back to Pharaonic culture and is practiced on joyous occasions such as weddings as well as during rivalries in the form of competitions, the knives symbolize additional arms on the body with which the dancers cut or paint in the air to express their own soul voice. Fittingly, Naslah also takes inspiration from conversations with people of different backgrounds from Khamee's childhood neighborhood in Cairo and his adopted home in Zurich, which always revolved around the topic of discrimination based on origin or appearance. Khamees aims to tell the stories of people on the margins of society and open up new perspectives on global conditions through his choreography, stating that «In dance we can experience our common humanity».
Team
Artistic Director / Choreography Aly Khamees
Creative Director / Production Jelena Mair
Coach / Outside Eye Romain Guion
Dramaturgy Tanzhaus Zurich Simon Fröhling
Performance Aly Khamees
Music Composition Ahmed Saleh
Light & Stage Designer David Baumgartner
Coproduction Tanzhaus Zürich
PartnersOrient Production (Tour Management)
Produced with the support of City of Zurich Culture, Canton of Zurich Culture Office, Ernst Göhner Foundation, Landis & Gyr Foundation, Anne-Marie Schindler Foundation, Swiss Performers Foundation SIS, Migros Culture Percentage
*In Cairo slang, "Naslah" refers to a sharpened spoon used in prison for personal protection.