Staging  and dancing based on a text from a passage from Marguerite Duras' L'Amant, where love and fate intersect.

Aïcha M'Barek – 2002

Aïcha M'Barek and Hafiz Dhaou were born in Tunis, and now live and work in Lyon. They formed the CHATHA Company in 2005 and have been creating their shows together since then.

After joining the Conservatory of Music and Dance of Tunis, they joined the Sybel Ballet Theatre in 1995, and also participated in various projects of Fadhel Jaziri. At the same time, they studied cinema at the Institut Maghrébin de Cinéma (IMC) in Tunis.

In 2000 they joined the CNDC in Angers, and received for this a special scholarship from the French Institute in Tunis.

Aicha then obtained a Master IUP Métiers des Arts et de la Culture at the University of Lyon 2, and became a dancer for the choreographer Sophie Tabakov / Cie Anouskan.

On his side, Hafiz danced for Abou Lagraa from 2003, and followed the E.X.E.R.C.E training directed by Mathilde Monnier at the CCN of Montpellier.

He also participated in several Héla Fattoumi and Eric Lamoureux pieces and became an Associate Interpreter at the CCN of Caen on various projects.

The two choreographers created their first duet Khallini Aïch in 2004, then Khaddem Hazem in 2006, VU in 2008, at the Lyon Dance Biennale, then Kawa, solo for two in 2010. In 2011, at the invitation of the Ballets de Lorraine-CCN Nancy they created Un des Sens, a choreography for 28 dancers.

KHARBGA - jeux de pouvoir and Do You Believe me? were created in 2011, then the duo Toi et Moi in 2013. They created Sacré printemps ! in 2014 and Narcose in 2017, finally Ces Gens-là ! in 2018 and L'Amour sorcier in collaboration with the Jazz musician Jean-Marie Machado in 2019.

2010 is an important year for the two choreographers, as the company opened up to the international scene : in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, North America... It was also an opportunity for the two artists to establish a remote correspondence, which became the matrix of Kawa, a solo written with two hands. This piece marked in a more global way a turning point in the life and evolution of the company.

In 2011 and 2012, they were appointed artistic directors of the Festival Les Rencontres Chorégraphiques de Carthage Tunis Capitale de La Danse. They were also given several carte blanche at the MUCEM - Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations in Marseille, at the Kampnaguel in Hamburg, in Limoges at the Festival des Francophonies in Limousin. They collaborated on the Dewan Symposium in Jordan, and both joined the Orientation Committee of the Institut Français Paris for the Triennial Dance Africa Dance until 2020.

Aicha & Hafiz are also involved in university training courses for which they are choreographer-teachers, in Tunis, Lyon and Grenoble.

Finally, the company has been in residency at Theatre Work Theater Singapore in 2009, Toboggan, Décines in 2010, Théâtre Louis Aragon, Tremblay-en- France in 2012 and 2013, MOUSSEM, Centre Nomade des Arts Anvers & Bruxelles in 2014, at the Maison de la Danse de Lyon in 2014 and 2015, at the 2 Scènes, Scène Nationale de Besançon in 2016 and 2017, at Bonlieu, Scène Nationale d'Annecy - long-term residency from 2016 to 2018, then Artists Associated with the CCN, Belfort Franche Comté Viadanse from 2016 to 2018.

They are currently Artists in Residency at the Arsenal - Cité musicale-Metz in 2019 and 2020, in residency also at the Esplanade de Divonne and in the Department of Ain from 2020 to 2023, in residency at the University Lyon 3, and Associated Artists with the Espace des Arts scène nationale de Chalon-sur-Saône from 2020 to 2025.

Cie Chatha - April 2020