Maqamat is a Lebanese contemporary dance company that was founded by Omar Rajeh in Beirut in 2002. In a short period of time, the company has been able to emerge as a central organization in the creation and development of contemporary dance in Lebanon and the Arab region. It is considered today as “the founder of a Lebanese Contemporary Dance Scene.”

Since 2002 the company has been touring locally and internationally. It has also supported, produced, and presented works for local emerging artists. In addition to the creative work, MAQAMAT, together with a network of international and regional partners, focuses on building an infrastructure for Contemporary Dance in Beirut. One of the most important achievements of the company was the creation of BIPOD-Beirut International Platform of Dance. Bipod celebrates its 10th anniversary in April 2014.

Vision
Maqamat Dance Theatre aims at establishing a platform for innovation, experimentation, and continuous development of contemporary dance culture, in Lebanon and the Region. Through introducing new ideas and concepts of dance and ‘the body’, the company anticipates a new phase of artistic and social productivity, creativity, modernization, and free expression.
Omar Rajeh

Choreographer, dancer, and artistic director of Maqamat Dance Theatre. His work, intense and powerful, has made an essential and significant contribution to the establishment of a contemporary dance scene in Lebanon. He established his company in Beirut in 2002 and since then he has toured throughout the Arab World and Europe, in addition to Canada and Korea. His artistic work deals with social and political issues inspired by the everyday life of the city of Beirut where he lives. It is very significant in his work that he is continuously questioning the individual presence and the physicality of ‘the body’ within a socio-political and human context.

Maqamat/Omar Rajeh founded BIPOD, one of the most important platforms for contemporary dance in the Arab World. Through Maqamat he also initiated many projects that similarly prompted the company to play a major role in the establishment and development of a contemporary dance scene in Beirut and the region.

Rajeh is also the co-founder of Masahat Dance Network, a regional dance network in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, & Palestine, founder of Leymoun – Arab Dance Platform and of Takween – intensive training project for Lebanese and Arab young dancers in partnership with Sasha Waltz and Guests. Omar Rajeh has started a significant and important project tilted ‘Maqamat Beit El Raqs’, a dance space for training, dance presentations and residencies situated in the Chouf Mountains of Lebanon and outside the Capital.