Moroccan troupe mixes traditional acrobatics with dance to captivate crowds

16-member Moroccan troupe captures its audience's attention by mixing traditional acrobatic routines with dance, martial arts and even freestyle football moves.

The group members revisit both acrobatics and dance, moving to music carefully picked to complement their routine.

Their goal is to modernize traditional Moroccan acrobatics while keeping its culture alive.

"Moroccan acrobatics is a jewel of the Moroccan culture and Moroccan cultural heritage," said Sanae El Kamouni-Lakmaïs, the director of Tangier Acrobatic Group.

She said she was drawn to this work because she wanted to preserve this art and protect it this ancestral heritage from disappearing.

The troupe has been touring Moroccan cities and has recently performed in a show titled "Fiq," Arabic for awake, at the Mohammed V in Rabat.

The artists in the theater group include acrobats, dancers, freestyle footballers and a taekwondo athlete.

"To move from traditional acrobatics to modern acrobatics, you first have to learn theater. That's what we did," said Hamza Naciri, a traditional acrobat and member of the troupe.

The group started out in 2003, creating the show FIQ in 2019.

Their tour across Morocco this year started in May and concluded in mid-June.

The performers danced to music selected with care by the group's conductor Noureddine Sanou, who goes by "Dj Dino".

"Everything in the song like the effects and the scratches, everything corresponds with the starting point of the movements of the artists," he said.