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Bird — Act II by Selma & Sofiane Ouissi
Commissioned by and Production: Sharjah Art Foundation
Co-production: L’Art Rue
For this second act of Bird, ٢ ٩ ١٨ ٤, Shams and Sofiane meet in the quiet intimacy of a room at Bait Al Serkal, a historic residence dating back to the nineteenth century.
Two bodies attuned to the rhythm of their own beating hearts, two presences open to whatever may come. Ten audience members, twenty-seven cards. Nothing is predetermined, nothing needs to be accomplished. Everything remains possible. A new, shifting score takes shape through gestures, listening and silence.
Chance, improvisation and the unexpected become starting points. The invitation is simply to be there, to move without knowing where one is headed, to remain attentive to what may emerge from the other, from the place, from time itself. To what unfolds in the fragile space of a conversation between Shams, Sofiane and the audience.
Beneath the skies of Sharjah, a space of possibilities opens up. Something begins to take shape there, still searching for its form.
Four numbers.
Four fragments.
A moving score.
This new episode/chapter is a research into the encounter with the other, into chance and improvisation.
Numbers become gestures, durations, trajectories. A score exists, but it is never entirely written.
Within the twenty minutes we have, anything can happen between Shams, Sofiane and the audience.
Shams, a resident of Sharjah, arrives with its own time, its trajectories, its hesitations, its detours. Its presence brings the place into the dance and introduces something that can never be entirely anticipated.
So we have to listen, wait, respond, deviate.
Chance becomes material.
Improvisation becomes a way of composing with what escapes control.
Between the score and the unexpected, between the audience’s choice and the pigeon’s movement, the dance searches for its form.
Twenty minutes.
A choice.
An encounter.
A place.
Then, letting go.
The premiere will take place on 6, 7 and 8 November 2026, as part of the Perhaps Here programme at the Perform Sharjah festival.
by Selma et Sofiane Ouissi
Performers : Shams (pigeon of Sharjah) and Sofiane Ouissi
Technical director : Mohamed Hedi Belkhir alias Mich
Commissioned by and Production: Sharjah Art Foundation
Co-production: L’Art Rue
Practical information
6, 7 and 8 November 2026
