French-Moroccan-Canadian choreographer and self-taught dancer Ismaël Mouaraki discovered urban dances at the age of 12. He was introduced to contemporary dance with the choreographer Xavier Lot during his residence at the Centre culturel André Malraux. It was the beginning of a three-year collaboration, and the start of a career for Ismaël. Curious and determined, he worked with different choreographers and companies in France and Canada, including Compagnie Accrorap, Philippe Découflé or Hélène Blackburn, allowing him to share his talent and his artistic expertise with a varied audience. 

In 2003, Ismaël founds Destins Croisés – crossed fates in French – of which he is the artistic director and choreographer. Ismaël seeks innovation and singularity in his work. His choreographic corpus brings together contemporary and urban dances, and a wide variety of practices ranging from circus to freestyle. In his 2003 creation, Near Future, he worked with a clown. The piece won the year’s Best Creation Award from the Office Franco-Québécois pour la jeunesse. In Loops (2008), Ismaël and his dancers worked and created in situ in the Montreal metro. In Slam en/Corps (2009), Ismaël created a dialogue between movements and words. In his solo piece, RefleXction (2010), he integrated his own body within a larger visual project. In his last creation, Link(s), he explores and engages with the notions of identity and alterity to question the role of the individual within the group. 

In addition to his work within Destins Croisés, he collaborates as choreographer or instructor in various projects in Canada and abroad, such as the in-situ performances of the Regroupement Québécois de la Danse’s 5th edition of Pas de danse, pas de vie!, or with the Cirque Éloize in the show ID. He also signed the choreographies of the Pink Carnival parade in honor of Jean Paul Gauthier, presented by the Just for Laughs Festival, and cosigned the piece Ayong with choreographer Herwann Asseh from the Compagnie Moral Soul that was presented at the Quartz in Brest, France. Inspired by Michelangelo’s gigantic fresco of the Final Judgement, Ayong brings together circus, dance, and visual arts. More recently, Ismaël Mouaraki created the piece D-Complex in collaboration with the Centre culturel de Namur in Belgium, that was presented in November 2016 at the Abattoirs de Bomel.