Habibitch
Habibitch, whose real name is Lissia Benoufella, is a non-binary artist, voguing and waacking dancer of Franco-Algerian origins, formerly known as Ari de B. As a queer feminist decolonial activist, they transform dance floors into political spaces[1].
Biography
Lissia Benoufella[2] was born in the 1980s, in Algiers, Algeria[2]. When they were four years old, their family of Kabyle origins[3][4], settled in France in order to flee the civil war that was raging in their country of origin[2]. They remember the material distress of their parents upon their arrival[2], who both became teachers[5].
They grew up in Vendée[6], and since their childhood, dreamt of becoming a dancer[7]. After completing their first level of undergraduate studies with a specialization in humanities (known in the French education system as classes préparatoires littéraires), they then earned a double degree in history and Spanish[1] (equivalent to a bachelor's degree with a double major) as well as completing a master's degree in gender studies[4] [7] at Science Po Toulouse (class of 2011)[1][8]. Since then, the concept of intersectionality served as the basis of their activism through art because, according to them, « intersectionality is a great tool for thinking about class, sex and gender»[4].
Well before becoming a dancer, they discovered voguing in 2011 during a trip to San Francisco with their partner at the time. There, they worked for an LGBT film festival where the film Paris is Burning, directed by Jennie Livingston[1], was screened. Watching this film, has thus, sparked a real « epiphany » in them[7].
In 2013, Habibitch auditioned for a professional hip hop dance school, which then admitted her into the school[7]. Already involved in activism, they then lived as a squatter and got more involved in the queer, feminist, and anarchist milieu as an intersectional activist. They then gravitated towards the Paris Ballroom scene and community where they met Kiddy Smile, who took an interest in them and allowed them to join the House of Mizhani in 2015[7].
In 2017, they organize their first dance conference, that they called Decolonize the Dancefloor[1] which they then adapted depending on the where the events and places they participate and intervene in, following an approach that prioritizes the «application of all of their intersectional and decolonial practices in dance»[1].
Simultaneously, Habibitch conducts workshops and animates conferences[9]. They are also the godmother of House of Gorgeous Gucci in Paris[10], and provide initiation classes[1] of waacking in the Parc de la Villette, in Paris[2][11].
- ^ a b c d e f g "Actualité Culture: Musique, Cinéma, Séries - Les Inrockuptibles". Les Inrocks (in French). Retrieved 2022-07-08.
- ^ a b c d e "Comment la chorégraphe Ari De B repolitise le dancefloor grâce à sa pratique engagée de la danse ?".
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ Laystary, Emilie. "Mode : les marques en quête de role models". Libération (in French). Retrieved 2022-07-08.
- ^ a b c "Quel sens donner à la notion de "réappropriation culturelle"?". Les Inrocks (in French). Retrieved 2022-07-08.
- ^ "Comment s'est passé le coming-out d'Ari De B, danseuse et militante queer ?". Magazine Antidote (in French). 2017-06-13. Retrieved 2022-07-08.
- ^ "La Lettre De...Habibitch". badoo.com (in French). Retrieved 2022-07-08.
- ^ a b c d e Leslie (2017-09-20). "Ari de B : une dancing queen à la folie". Friction Magazine (in French). Retrieved 2022-07-08.
- ^ Cordier, Baptiste (2018-07-26). "Sciences Po Toulouse Alumni - Portrait d'Ari De B (promo 2011) sur ChEEk Magazine". Sciences Po Toulouse Alumni (in French). Retrieved 2022-07-08.
- ^ "Habibitch : "Entre les selfies, la bouffe et les couchers de soleil, Instagram peut être une plateforme militante"". L'ADN (in French). 2021-04-14. Retrieved 2022-07-08.
- ^ "Habibitch – CAP 74024 Magazine". Retrieved 2022-07-08.
- ^ folie, à la; folie, équipe à la. "Cours de waacking par Ari de B en live !". à la folie (in French). Retrieved 2022-07-08.