Choreography and Performance

is the artistic director of Below the Skin, a company he founded with his wife Jelena Mair in 2019. Khamees was born in Cairo in 1986 and is a choreographer, dancer and actor. He received his training in contemporary dance at the Cairo Contemporary Dance Workshop Program curated by Studio Emad Eddin and Laurence Rondoni (2008-2011). Khamees further developed his skills as a dancer and performer by collaborating with various dance companies in Europe and Egypt: Desent-Danse (2011-2013), Ultima Vez (2013/17), Homa Company (Monkey Fish Technique) (2013/14/17), to name a few. In 2013, he became a member of the International Dance Council. Currently living in Switzerland, Khamees has resumed his own work as a choreographer. He has benefited from important residencies in which he was able to develop his movement vocabulary Bullet and Knife and test the basic ideas for the solo piece Naslah: Pro-Helvetia residency Theatre L'Octagon (2020), Covid-19 working grant of the City of Zurich (2021/22), ATLAS - ImPulsTanz Festival Vienna (2021), Tanzhaus Zurich residency (2022), Mixed Pickles Roxy Birsfelden (2022). Bullet and Knife is inspired by Egyptian street dance, which Khamees brings into dialogue with contemporary dance and power movement. His most recent productions were: Breaches (Off Cairo Biennial Festival 2018), and The Absentee (2be Continued and DCAF Festival 2018). Khamees' work is interested in using the language of dance to speak about social challenges and issues, and to engage audiences in dialogue.

Co-Author, Production Manager, Diffusion

is the creative director of the Below the Skin company and develops the artistic concepts in collaboration with Aly Khamees. Her professional background is diverse. She studied Expressive Dance and Art Therapy at the Tamalpa Institute in San Franciso (2006), received her Bachelor in Transdisciplinary Studies at the California Institute of Integral Studies (2008) and her Master in Peace and Conflict Transformation in Basel and Innsbruck (2015). She worked as a project manager in various start-ups and NGOs with a focus on peacebuilding, social inclusion and sustainability. She is co-facilitating the transdisciplinary initiative School of Commons (schoolofcommons.org) located at the Zurich University for the Arts. Her personal interests and academic background are in the fields of human empowerment, social change, transgenerational trauma and resiliency. She is a certified Resiliency Coach (Organic Intelligence®). Already as a child she spent a lot of time at her mother's theater, around the stage she feels at home. For her, art is an important means of personal and social transformation.

Coach & Outside Eye

is a performer, dance educator, festival curator and cultural manager with a 25-year career in the performing arts. He trained at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse in Paris and has subsequently been a member of various international dance companies including Charleroi-Danses, National Dance Company Wales, Dance Theatre of Ireland, John Scott's Irish Modern Dance Theatre, Gelabert-Azzopardi Companya de Dansa, Eun Me Ahn Dance Company, PVC-Stadttheater Freiburg, Staatstheater Mainz, Constanza Macras-Dorky Park and les ballets C de la B, with whom he performed C(H)OEURS and Nicht Schlafen. In addition to his performing career, Romain collaborates in the creation of dance, music, theatre and opera productions with artists such as Alain Platel (Coup Fatal), Martin Zimmermann (Good Bye Johnny; Danse Macabre), Koen Augustijnen (Sehnsucht, limited edition; Dancing Bach), Eugénie Rebetez (Bienvenue), Francesca Foscarini (Animale) and Juliette Navis (Tout ce qui reste; La timidité des arbres). Romain curates the Berlin dance festival LUCKY TRIMMER and the professional training of Tanzhaus Zürich. He is artistic coordinator of the collective The Field and artistic director of Brückerei, a platform for choreographic development. In 2019, Romain received a cultural award from the city of Zurich. In 2021, Romain graduated with a Master's degree in Cultural Management from Leuphana University. In his master's thesis, he investigated environmental sustainability in the European contemporary dance sector.

Dramaturgical support Tanzhaus Zurich

born 1978, is a Swiss-Australian dual citizen and lives as an author and dramaturge in Zurich. He has published two novels ("Lange Nächte Tag" and "Dürrst", shortlisted for the Swiss Book Prize 2022, both published by Bilgerverlag) and written more than a dozen full-length plays and radio plays for Swiss and German stages and radio stations. He has won various prizes for his work and was Writer in Residence at the German House at New York University. Simon is also involved in the performing arts as a freelance production dramaturge (including for the UTOPISISTAS led by Jenna Hendry) and as a lecturer, external mentor and expert, including for the Zurich University of the Arts ZHdK, the Cultural Foundation of the Canton of Thurgau and the Albert Köchlin Foundation. In addition to his freelance work, he is deputy artistic director of the Tanzhaus Zürich and also heads the dramaturgy pool. In the course of this he accompanies productions by artists and groups such as Eugénie Rebetez, Isabel Lewis & The Field, Ivy Monteiro, Lea Moro, Valerie Reding and cie. zeitSprung as well as national and international guests in residence. He also supervised the young talent platforms SHOW-OFF (2020 & 2022) and kicks! (2021) as a coach.

Co-Creation and Performance

born in 2004 in Switzerland, received pre-professional dance training (Begabtenförderung Tanz Thurgau) in Weinfelden and at the Ballettschule für das Opernhaus Zürich. She is currently in her third year of studying for a Bachelor's degree in Contemporary Dance at Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK). Over the past two years, she has had the opportunity to work with a variety of choreographers, including Nadav Zelner, Marco Goecke, Francesco Curci, Jordy Dik, and others. Through these diverse processes and styles, she has gained extensive experience in various dance techniques. She became acquainted with Aly Khamees during the two-week ChoreoLab that he led as a guest choreographer within the framework of the BA Contemporary Dance at ZHdK.

Co-Creation and Performance

has completed a prepofessional contemporary dance education at the Conservatoire in Fribourg and participated in various dance intensives and projects since. She enjoys exploring movement next to her studies, where she pursues a master's in environmental science. She has participated in the Open Format Workshop with Aly Khamees and has since worked with him extensively in the creation of Empty City and Rhythm of Reverance.

Co-Creation and Performance

has been working with the Akram Khan Company since 2013. Her performance in "Until the Lions" was honoured as "Outstanding Female Performance" at the National Dance Awards (UK) 2016. Dance critic Lyndsey Winship also praised her as "a woman of powerful but serene stillness, shifting form between delicate, melting movements, stubborn determination and contorted convulsions". She is also the rehearsal director of the Akram Khan Company and a teacher for the company's repertoire workshops. In 2020, she started working with James Kreation ZMo's" and "ROOM". Besides theatre performance, she also worked as an artistic model and improvising dancer for Guo-qiang Cai's "Day and Night". She was a dancer and choreographer for "Stranger", a music video for the hip-hop musician Plan B, and several videos for the British electronic band The Chemical Brothers, both projects directed by Adam Smith. Together with Akram Khan, she created a duet for "Can We Live with Robots", a TV documentary commissioned by Channel 4 (Thierrée - Compagnie de Hanneton). Her first solo choreography "Vulture" was created in 2018 with the support of LMF Dance Fund, National Culture and Arts Foundation (Taiwan) and Akram Khan Company, which was performed at Lilian Baylis Studio of Sadler's Well and Weiwuying National Kaohsiung Centre for the Arts. "Vulture" was also selected as one of twenty pieces for Aerowave 2023. Their latest choreography "The Moon Upon a Stick" has been in the making since winter 2022 to date. The first creation was supported by Tripspcae Studio (UK). It was also selected by The Place-Choreodrome2023(UK) for a second art residency.

Co-Creation and Performance

also recognized as "Bboy Issue," is a professional dancer based in Zurich. Beginning his career as a teenager in South Korea, he has developed a unique style combining breaking, contemporary dance, urban dance, traditional Korean dance, and martial arts. His unconventional take on breakdance has earned him international recognition as an icon and the title of World Champion, led him to judge Breaking competitions and perform on stages all around the world. Over the years, Issue Park transitioned from breakdancing to collaborations in dance-theatre productions and contemporary dance companies. He works with Aly Khamees on the production "Empty City," and is engaged in various creations by Kaori Ito, "Room" and "Mos" by James Thierrée’s “Compagnie du Hanneton”, and joined Fritz Company for "That's all Folks," a production supported by Pina Bausch Zentrum & Dimitris Papaioannou.

Co-Creation and Performance

is a freelance dancer in St.Gallen with a Swiss-Sri Lankan background. She grew up in the countryside of Appenzell and discovered her love of movement through the sport of rhythmic gymnastics. After training in Berlin at the International Dance Academy and in Rome at the Dance Arts Faculty, she moved back to Switzerland and has worked in recent years with Marcel Leemann, Lucas Del Rio Estevez, Beatrice im Obersteg, Riva&Repele and Tamara Gvozdenovic. In 2022, she was a member of Cie Marchepied and participated in creations by Corinne Rochet, Nicholas Pettit and Edouard Hue. She has also choreographed and produced several full-length pieces, which are mainly performed in Eastern Switzerland. This year there are two: together with Mira Paudler-Boss, she shares the artistic direction of the theatre dance school production "ich du wir" by Konzert und Theater St.Gallen, and in March she will premiere the new dance theatre production "Dust&Recuerdos" together with Diego de la Rosa.

Co-Creation and Performance

Vanessa Morandell, born in 1999, is a contemporary dancer from Bolzano, Italy and completed her dance studies at the Advanced Federal Diploma of Higher Education in Contemporary & Urban Dance (HF ZUB). During her studies, she was active in the Zurich Student Theatre and helped to set up the interdisciplinary artists' collective projekt.vakuum as a co-founder. Vanessa is a versatile artist who works both on stage and in front of the camera. Her experience ranges from performing for the Hungry Sharks Company to choreographic assistant for Valentin Alfery's production of "Hamletmaschine" at the Staatstheater Kassel and the play "Far From Home" by the Alleyne Sisters. This autumn, Vanessa herself can be seen as a dancer with Below the Skin Company in the piece "Empty City", as well as with her duet Müde. Inspired by physical theatre, her own theatre experience and a broad theatre experience and a broad repertoire of dance styles, Vanessa strives to develop an individual and contemporary movement language. At the centre of her work is the human condition and all its facets. The combination of physicality and emotionality and the contrast between dynamics and qualities characterise her dance.

Co-Creation and Performance

born 1955. Psychotherapist and yoga teacher in Winterthur. His favorite childhood memory is dancing wildly with his family to the current hits of the 60s. “Gentle Dance” training with John Graham, USA, 1982-85. “MannTanzt” mit Tina Mantel, Zurich, since 2019 and participation in the innovative dance platform Brückerei 2022 where he met and started working with Aly Khamees.

Music Composition

has been producing electronic music since 2001, using a variety of analogue and digital sound generators as well as field recordings to create his musical works. His sound is often described as dark, captivating and atmospheric and has earned him a loyal following. He is recognised in the music scene for his unique blend of bass-heavy hip-hop beats, electronica and ambient, and has built a reputation as an innovative and genre-bending musician. Bit-Tuner is also known for his energetic live performances, where he captivates his audience with an immersive and experimental soundscape. Over the years, he has also composed music and developed sound design for theatre plays, fashion shows, art projects and films. In 2015, he was nominated for the renowned Swiss Music Prize by the Federal Office of Culture (BAK). Bit-Tuner has collaborated and released music with various artists like !Mediengruppe Bitnik, Audio88 & Yassin, IOKOI, Göldin, Manuel Stahlberger, Martina Caluori, Andro El Hawy, Islam Chipsy (100Copies Music) or Sensational from NYC, and many more.

Light & Stage Designer

is a stage designer, clothing designer and lighting designer. She has been working independently in Zurich since 2022. Clarity, simplicity and elegance are design values with which she plans, realises and enriches projects. Her objects bring tension, contrasts and surprising perspectives into the space. Working with different media, materials and supports is a matter of course and motivation for her. At the same time, she demonstrates the ability and desire to utilise these diverse possibilities for the greater good. She particularly enjoys projects that strive for social relevance.