Trajal Harrell

Trajal Harrell is an American dancer and choreographer, founder and artistic director of the Zürich Dance Ensemble. He came to prominence by addressing the historical connections between voguing, born in the Harlem ballroom queer culture in the 1980s, and postmodern dance. His creations are also inspired by Japanese butoh. In his shows, the body becomes a space of memory, where questions about history and identity arise. In 2024, he was awarded the Silver Lion for dance at the Venice Biennale. He returns to the Festival d’Avignon for the fourth time, after presenting (M)IMOSA in 2011—a collective creation alongside Cecilia Bengolea, François Chaignaud, and Marlene Monteiro Freitas—followed by Caen Amour in 2016 and The Romeo in the Cour d’honneur in 2023.

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