Moroccan Dancer Who Discovered Hip-Hop at 12 Takes the Stage at Paris Autumn Festival

At 12, Yassmine Benchrifa was drawn to hip-hop. She was passionate about the dance’s energy and the chance to express herself through movement. But in 2017, another discipline entered her life: contemporary dance, which she began studying with choreographer Taoufiq Izeddiou.

The following year, she joined Nafass, Morocco’s first contemporary dance school. Hip-hop remained part of her work, now enriched by another way of moving and telling stories. In 2019, she created her first choreography, *Her Life*, which was still experimental.

The next chapter unfolded in Marrakech. In 2024, she won first prize in the Taklif contemporary dance competition. That same year, at the On Marche festival, the acclaimed Moroccan choreographer Bouchra Ouizguen discovered her work. Two years later, she opened the door for Benchrifa to the Festival d’Automne in Paris.

Discovered in Marrakech, invited to the Paris region

“I invited the young dancer and choreographer Yassmine Benchrifa,” Bouchra Ouizguen said in an interview with Le Monde. The invitation is part of “Mosaïque – Ce qui traverse les corps,” a gathering of artists from Morocco, Burundi and Iran.

Benchrifa presents *Incendia*, her first professional solo, created in 2025 and already performed in Marseille in May 2026. On the Théâtre La Cité website, she says she drew inspiration from changes in her own life. “Each transition defines a part of who we are,” she says.

The MC93 de Bobigny is presenting *Incendia* on October 24 and 25 as part of Saison Méditerranée 2026. This Sunday, Benchrifa will dance alone for 27 minutes, starting at 4:30 p.m., in the Christian Bourgois room. An hour later, Bouchra Ouizguen will present her own solo there, *Qunfudh*.