Mehdi Kerkouche Choreographer

Multi-disciplinary artist Mehdi Kerkouche works as a choreographer and director on numerous television programmes in France and Europe. From cinema to fashion shows and advertising, he coaches artists from all horizons and directs the staging of major cultural events. In 2017, he set up the EMKA company in order to bring together artists encountered on his previous projects in creations that marry energy and poetry. The jury's favourite at the choreographic parade of the Karavel Festival in 2018 with his solo Mute, he then presented Dabkeh at numerous festivals in France and Europe. The work rediscovers the powerful and festive dance of the Middle East through a contemporary lens. In 2020, his "confined videos" went viral and enabled him to launch the festival “On danse chez vous”. This event gathered 70 dancers and choreographers on social networks to help healthcare workers during the COVID-19 crisis. Strongly committed to passing on knowledge and skills, he teaches at the International Academy of Dance where he trained, as well as at the Studio Harmonic and the Lax Studio in Paris. He is also the patron of many dance festivals in France and abroad. As a performer, he has played and sung in numerous musicals, accompanied artists such as Christine And The Queens and performed the role of Karim in Ladislas Chollat's first feature film, Let’s dance. At the start of the 2020 season, he was invited by Aurélie Dupont to create a piece for the dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet to be presented in November at the Palais Garnier.