Cypher by Ridha Tlili is the result of a meeting and an artistic residency lasting several months which began in October 2020 and continued until the end of 2022. The first stage of work was relocated in the city of Sidi Bouzid in the South-West of Tunisia. The meeting is between the independent filmmaker and producer Ridha Tlili with a group of young breakdancers from his hometown.

This project saw the birth of a performance and a short film with the participation of five young breakdancers. The video projected during the performance is divided into two parts: archival images representing the personal memories of the dancers (their city, the events that marked them); and images filmed during the residency. Mixing breakdance, contemporary dance, theatre and cinema, Cypher is a poetic encounter and an intense choreographic narrative. A strong work that was shown in the form of a work in progress in Sidi Bouzid on December 17, 2020 for the 10th anniversary of the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouaziz, an event which triggered the Arab Spring. The Tunis performance is set for February 2021.

In a second stage of work at the end of 2021 and during 2022, Ridha Tlili’s residency continued in the city of Sousse with the integration of breakdancers.

In February 2022, the Tunisian dancer and choreographer Mohamed Toukabri, who was introduced to dance through breakdancing at the age of 12, trained the dancers of Ridha Tlili’s Cypher project in the technical aspects of dance and will make his expertise as a choreographer available to the project. After training at P.A.R.T.S and performing with several international companies, Mohamed Toukabri has been developing his own choreographic path for several years. His first piece, The Upside Down Man, has been selected for the 2019 TheaterFestival in the #NewYoung category.