Chabana

Pleine Lune brings together dancers and choreographers Toto (Mohamed Mahmud Mohamed Ibrahim) and Islam Elarabi for the first time, around a shared passion: mahraganat.
A choreographic and musical aesthetic rejected by the establishment but wildly popular, transcended on stage by the dancers and choreographers who interweave their energy, expressive power and emotions to invent “an essential language of expression – organic, free and beautiful in its raw violence and truth”. Here, the alliance of mahraganat, martial arts and contemporary dance plunges the performers into a kind of bare-knuckle combat, where each competes with the other in...

Rooted in the streets of Cairo, Just one Tile explores Islam Elarabi's identity, resistance and cultural heritage through his lived experience and bodily memory.
It’s an opportunity for him to assert his origins and his determination to dance whatever the cost – “I come from a place where a single slab can become a stage” – by revisiting the energy and pride inherent in mahraganat dance, a visceral expression of Egyptian street culture. – by revisiting the energy and pride inherent in mahraganat dance, a visceral expression of Egyptian street culture. Islam Elarabi built his own artistic vocabulary in neighborhood...

Interview with Yasmine El Rashidi. In Arabic, translated and moderated by Nicolas Gilles.
In her book Révolte mahraganat, le son qui secoue l’Égypte, published in March 2026, Yasmine El Rashidi explores the troubled trajectories of mahraganat and its links with the 2011 revolution. The Egyptian author and journalist will discuss these themes with artists Islam Elarabi and Toto.