Show

Soraya Leila Emery

Coming Soon

The odalisque: languid on a couch in a luxurious harem, an idealized sensual figure—passive, waiting, desirable. But who is she, and what is she waiting for?

Coming Soon, inspired by Ingres’ La Grande Odalisque, initiates a process of emancipation from the painting itself. This solo subverts the iconic figure and challenges Orientalist clichés, playing with them to open up alternative narratives, possibilities, and imaginaries. A multifaceted figure appears—mischievous and cheeky—playing with the fantasy of an image we never truly see. Through grotesqueness and exaggeration, images are distorted and multiplied, turning intentional ambiguity into a space for play.

Something is always about to arrive, yet never fully appears. What, or who, is coming soon?

As part of the work for this piece Soraya Leila Emery also hosts a series of workshops: Pleasure Practices

Concept, artistic direction, choreography Soraya Leila Emery
Performance Soraya Leila Emery
Replacement role and support choreographic development Hakima Sinekli
Sound design Sinan Moses
Light design Ursula Degen
Costume and stage design Moni Wespi
Stage design assistant Nina Orgiu
Mentorship Ulduz Ahmadzadeh
Art history expert, outside eye Hortense Belhôte
Puppetry advisor Georgia Paliogianni
Outside eye Cassiel Gaube

Production management Romeo Oliveras
Diffusion management Simon Fleury
Picture Martin Reeve, Théâtre de l’Oriental Vevey, Nessim Cherif

Co-Production Tanzhaus Zürich
Dramaturgical Support Tanzhaus Zürich Lea Moro
Critical Friend Tanzhaus Zürich Meloe Gennai

Supported by Stadt Zürich Kultur, Fachstelle Kultur Kanton Zürich, Pro Helvetia Swiss Arts Council, Théâtre de l'Oriental, Stanley Thomas Johnson Stiftung, Anne Marie Schindler Stiftung, Schweizerische Interpretenstiftung SIS, Oertli-Stiftung

Soraya Leila Emery

Soraya Leila Emery is a Swiss-Moroccan choreographer based in Zurich. In 2023/24, as a TanzPlan Ost Associated Artist, she created her group piece TURN ON. In her current work, Soraya Leila explores themes of desire through an intersectional, decolonial, and feminist lens, providing a platform for MENA* dancers. Her earlier works questioned the preservation and transmission of cultural identity and the representation of the female Arab body. She earned her Master's degree in Choreography from ZHdK Zurich in 2024, graduated as a contemporary dancer from SEAD in 2017, and from CFPArts Geneva in 2014.

*MENA = Middle East North Africa

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