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Alexandre Paulikevitch

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Alexandre Paulikevitch
Alexandre Paulikevitch in January 2022
Alexandre Paulikevitch in January 2022
BornAlexandre Paulikevitch
(1982-02-20)20 February 1982
Beirut, Lebanon
OccupationDancer, choreographer
Period2009–present
GenreBaladi dance

Alexandre Paulikevitch (Arabic: الكسندر بوليكيفيتش; born February 20, 1982, in Beirut, Lebanon) is a Lebanese artist living in Beirut, Lebanon. He is one of very few male Arab belly dancers, and is known for his thought provoking work and the social issues he tackles through his art.[1][2] He studied at the University of Paris VIII majoring in Theater and Dance.

He returned to Beirut in 2006, where he is now permanently based, and has since "been creating spaces of reflection on Middle-Eastern dance through his work as a choreographer, a teacher and a performer".[3] Today he specializes in contemporary Baladi dance, a new dance form he has created and divulged.[4]

Early life and career

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Paulikevitch was born in Lebanon where he grew up in a conservative Armenian Christian neighborhood of Beirut. He embraced his sexuality early-on and came out as a homosexual man to his friends and family at the age of 16.[1] His solo debut in Beirut was in 2009 with “Mouhawala Oula” (Arabic for "First Try") with which he begins to challenge gender stereotypes.[5]

Homosexuality

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Although a relatively progressive country in the Middle East, homosexuality has not yet been decriminalized in Lebanon. As a male with a feminine demeanor, he is often the target of derogatory catcalls when in public. In one of his first solo shows, entitled Tajwal, Paulikevitch dances to a compilation of insults directed at him on the streets of Beirut, turning his suffering into art.[6]

Gender

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Paulikevitch's work also redefines "gender roles through oriental dance".[5] As a male dancer of Baladi, he uses his body to question gender stereotypes in the Middle East.[7]

Activism

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Beyond his dance practice, Paulikevitch is an active member of the civil society in Lebanon and a visible participant of multiple civil rights marches and protests. During the 2019–2020 Lebanese protests, also known locally as the October Revolution, Alexandre was violently arrested and detained by the riot police after participating in a public protest on the eve of January 14, 2020. He was summoned to military court, setting a precedent in a series of military tribunal convocations for citizens arrested during the protests.[8] Paulikevitch's experience of arrest and detention inspired his show "A'alehom", during which he expresses his personal grief and the difficult year that was 2020.[9] His work has been described as a "call to revolution",[10] and he has been called the "militant dancer."[11]

Baladi career

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Known as "the most famous male Baladi dancer",[12] Paulikevitch is also perceived as the "precursor" of the dance form.[13] His shows are often inspired by personal experiences of traumas, and have been received by audiences and critics with great success.[14] He is one of few Arab baladi dancers to perform on international stages and as part of large dance festivals. In 2022, his performance "Cabaret Welbeek" was selected as the show to watch in the Festival LEGS, and was described as "the peak of a playful mix between joy, poetry and subversion."[15]

Baladi appellation

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One of the main missions Paulikevitch claims for himself is to battle what he describes as 'the colonial designation' of 'Belly Dance'. In describing his work, he aims to reclaim the native significance and original Egyptian appellation Baladi — Arabic for my country or land. His main critique is that the term 'Belly Dance' was created through the colonial gaze to eroticize this dance, condemning it as female and suggestive.[16] As a male Arab dancer within this tradition, he combats these stereotypes, thus reclaiming a space for a male figure in a female dominated world.[1] In 2017, he influenced the Centre Pompidou to use the term "Baladi" instead of Belly Dance in their show "Move / Hips don't lie", a retrospective of the dance's history.[17]

Features

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Paulikevitch was featured locally and internationally in many outlets. This includes an episode of the Netflix series We Speak Dance, hosted by Vandana Hart[18] and filmed in Beirut; a New York Times article, "Coming Out in Lebanon" about openly queer and transsexual individuals in Lebanon,[4] a BBC Culture documentary, The Male Belly Dancer Fighting Gender Stereotypes;[16] and a short documentary about his food cooking and preservation techniques entitled "Tastes of Loss" by Romy Lynn Attieh.[19]

Selected works

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Solo shows

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  • “Mouhawala Oula” (Arabic: محاولة اولة), Debut: 2009[5]
  • Tajwal (Arabic: تجوال), Debut: 2011[20]
  • ELGHA (Arabic: إلغاء), Debut: 2013[6]
  • Baladi ya Wad (Arabic: بلدي يا واد), Debut: 2015[21]
  • A'alehom (Arabic: عليهم), Debut: 2020[22]
  • Cabaret Welbeek (Arabic: كاباري والبيك), Debut: 2022[23]

Collaborative shows

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  • Poster session / school - Festival d'Avignon, a collaboration with dancers/choreographers: Christine De Smedt, Simone Forti, Xavier Le Roy, Mette Ingvartsen; directors: Jan Ritsema et Cyril Teste; rapper: DGIZ; author and playwright: Bojana Cvejic; essayist: Charlotte Nordmann; and director of the École supérieure d'art d'Avignon (ESAA): Jean-Marc Ferrari, Debut: 2011[24]
  • SKINOUT, a collaboration with Cecilia Bengolea, François Chaignaud, Ylva Falk, Elisa Yvelin, Naïs Haidar, Alex Mugler, Debut: 2012[25]
  • Palais de Femme, a collaboration with Joelle Khoury and Chaghig Arzoumanian, Debut: 2014[26]
  • Dresse le Pour moi (Arabic: فأدِّبْهُ لي), a collaboration with Nancy Naous, Debut: 2018 [27]
  • The Last Distance, a collaboration with Leen Hashem, Debut: 2018 [28]

See also

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LGBT rights in Lebanon Belly dance

References

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  1. ^ a b c "How Alexandre Paulikevitch — Beirut's singular male belly dancer — breaks barriers with his art". CBC. November 2, 2015.
  2. ^ Menta, Anna (21 March 2018). "Male "belly dancer" uses baladi to defy sexism and homophobia in Lebanon". Newsweek.
  3. ^ "Alexandre Paulikevitch - NAWF Women Entrepreneurs". www.nawforum.com. 21 October 2016.
  4. ^ a b Boushnak, Laura; Boshnaq, Mona (30 December 2017). "Coming Out in Lebanon". The New York Times.
  5. ^ a b c "Redefining gender roles through oriental dance". now.mmedia.me.
  6. ^ a b "A l'IMA, Alexandre Paulikevitch mêle féminin et masculin". Le Monde.fr. 19 April 2018 – via Le Monde.
  7. ^ "Alexandre Paulikevitch in "Elgah": Watch me Move Resistance!". 23 December 2013.
  8. ^ "Lebanese Male Dancer on Trial For 'Twirl' During Protests". Al Bawaba. 24 September 2020.
  9. ^ Zalzal, Zéna (9 December 2020). "Alexandre Paulikevitch, sensible et... culotté". L'Orient Le Jour.
  10. ^ "Alexandre Paulikevitch exorcise ses traumatismes sur scène". TV5 Monde. 19 December 2020.
  11. ^ Bruers, Amélie; Platon, Adrian (15 May 2022). "Alexandre, danseur libanais". rtbf.
  12. ^ Martella, Annabelle (2 February 2022). "Artistes libanais: "C'est maintenant que mon pays a besoin de moi"". Libération.
  13. ^ Bruers, Amélie; Platon, Adrian (15 May 2022). "Alexandre, danseur libanais". rtbf.
  14. ^ "A'alehom d'Alexandre Paulikevitch". Scene Web. 2 February 2022.
  15. ^ Colin, Valérie (19 March 2022). "LEGS 2022: tout dans les jambes!". L'echo.
  16. ^ a b Galer, Sophia Smith. "The male belly dancer fighting gender stereotypes". www.bbc.com.
  17. ^ "Move / Hips don't lie". www.centrepompidou.fr.
  18. ^ "We Speak Dance". 11 December 2017 – via Vimeo.
  19. ^ "A Taste of Home OR A (gushing) love letter to Alex P." 2021 – via chra.bard.edu/.
  20. ^ "Tajwal, Alexandre Paulikevitch". Institut du monde arabe. 6 February 2018.
  21. ^ Fache, Wilson (17 April 2015). "" Tra-Tra-Tra-Houuuum-Ha ! " ordonne Alexandre Paulikevitch". L'Orient-Le Jour.
  22. ^ Ghali, Maghie (10 December 2020). "" Dance performance born in crises packs a punch " - Maghie GHALI". The Daily Star Lebanon.
  23. ^ ""Cabaret Welbeek"". Brussels Dance. 2022.
  24. ^ "Poster Session / School". Festival Avignon. 21 July 2011.
  25. ^ "Dans le collimateur de Francois Chaignaud + Cecelia Bengolea". À Vous Poitiers. 28 January 2012.
  26. ^ Metni, Natasha (10 October 2014). "Palais de femmes. La femme au sein de l'art- Natasha Metni". Magazine Le Mensuel.
  27. ^ "Dresse le Pour moi". Le Thêatre Saint Nazaire. 15 March 2018.
  28. ^ "The Last Distance". Outburst Arts. 10 November 2018.
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