Desire is the force of life

“I think it started very early on,” Soraya Leila tells me. “As a child, I felt the need to express myself – through drawing, singing, dancing, any kind of creative activity. I was full of energy, always on the go. Later, when I had to decide what I wanted to do after school, dance was the obvious choice. My body made things clear.”

Growing up as the middle child of three has shaped the 32-year-old. “You’re not the eldest, you’re not the youngest. You’re sort of in between. That gave me a lot of freedom, but also a kind of invisibility. I think that’s where my determination comes from – to create space for myself.”

This idea has become a central part of her artistic language. “For me, choreography is about creating space. Space in the studio, on stage and for ideas. Before something exists physically, I have already made room for it in my head and in my body.”

Her piece TURN ON, which was created during her time as an associate artist at TanzPlan Ost, is the first part of a trilogy on pleasure. The work invites the audience on a sensory journey: observing, smelling, moving, resting.

“My research began with questions about sensual and sexual pleasure”, explains Soraya Leila, “but very quickly it opened up into something much bigger. Pleasure is eating, breathing, resting, being touched, being present. It’s not just one thing.”

When asked how she would define pleasure, she hesitates. “It’s hard to define. I would say it’s a kind of life force. Something internal. A driving force. Something that makes you want to engage, to enjoy, to move towards life.”

The audience’s reactions would confirm this intuition: “People tell me they feel awakened, aroused. Not just sexually – but also sensorially, emotionally. Some women came with their daughters and suddenly a space opened up for them to have conversations about boundaries, empowerment and the body. That was very moving.”

Emery’s work is also a clear statement on perspective. “I don’t work against the male gaze, I work from a female perspective.”

This shift can be disorienting. “After TURN ON, some men told me that they had questioned their own gaze during the performance. That’s when it dawned on me: this disruption is the crux of the matter. A new perspective alters our habitual way of seeing.”

For many women, the effect was exactly the opposite: “They felt seen. Represented. Empowered.”

Her solo piece Coming Soon, which she is currently developing as a collaborator with the Tanzhaus Zürich, moves from pleasure towards representation and draws on art history. The starting point is Ingres’ Grande Odalisque – an Orientalist painting from the 19th century, created by a man who had never set foot in the regions of which he dreamed. “The woman is a body of projections”, says Emery. “A fantasy of the Orient, created in a very puritanical European context. That fascinates me.”

In Coming Soon, Emery plays with the figure of the odalisque as a performer, servant and entertainer. “I sing, I dance, I speak, I display various talents. In a way, the audience becomes the sultan. I perform for them, but at the same time it is they who are being observed.”

The piece also addresses issues of nudity and opens up discussions about the context in which it is performed and about bodily autonomy. Emery acknowledges that these issues are perceived differently in various cultural and family contexts and that, whilst the forms may adapt, the core of the work remains the same.

“I think it’s the feeling of always getting a little closer,” she says. “The essence of what I really want to say. Every piece brings me closer, but never quite to the finish line.”

This endeavour is gaining recognition: She will soon be presenting her work at the international Aerowaves Festival in Portugal and as part of the Salons d’Artistes at the currently running Swiss Dance Days in Bern. “When others see my work and feel it speaks to them, it gives me a sense of groundedness and, at the same time, the courage to carry on.”

After an intensive run of performances, she is exhausted but full of energy: “Talking about the work motivates me. It makes me want to get back into the studio straight away. I know that I am exactly where I need to be.”

Soraya Leila Emery is a Swiss-Moroccan choreographer and dancer based in Zurich. She trained in Geneva and Salzburg and holds a Master’s degree in Choreography from the ZHdK. Her work lies at the intersection of contemporary dance, feminist research and embodied practice. At the heart of her practice is a word that is often misunderstood, reduced or avoided altogether: lust.

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