SITE
El Ghorfa (Fondouk Bouchaddakh)
THE STORY BEHIND THE JUMP
Dancer: Hoàng Minh Võ
video essay
2 min
2025
Merve Can’s video essay can be seen in Fondouk Bouchaddakah, in the outdoor area of Café El Ghorfa. A place in the middle of busy streets, voices and movements. It is part of all this and yet it seems miles away because of the silence in the Fondouk.
THE STORY BEHIND THE JUMP shows a dancer breakdancing in urban space. He is accompanied by the camera through various urban environments. The movements of the body are in focus, but without losing sight of the surroundings. Details of architecture and ground conditions are emphasised, as is the physical expressiveness of the dance. It is not only shown how the dancer moves in the space but also how he interacts with it.
A calm voiceover draws attention to the unspoken stories behind the movements: hours of work, discipline and passion to make each movement look so seemingly effortless. A light hip-hop jazz soundtrack creates an atmospheric soundscape in the background. The camera constantly follows the movements of the body and almost seems to interact with them. This constant movement of the camera intensifies the dynamics and allows the viewer to physically feel the movements. Therefore this makes the few quiet sequences all the more effective as moments to take a deep breath and pause.
In the video essay, breakdance is shown not just as a performance but as a process of exploring the body, space and identity. Movements develop into a form of dialogue: between dancer and environment, between inner history and external form of expression. As an artistic response to social inequality, marginalisation and violence, breakdance has its roots in the African-American and Puerto Rican communities in New York in the 1970s. It was political from the beginning and a medium of resistance and collective belonging. Therefore breakdance is also an expression of personal identity, a process of self-assertion and self-discovery.
THE STORY BEHIND THE JUMP reveals the hidden individual experiences behind the seemingly effortless movements. It also shows breakdancing as a coded practice whose dimensions can only be read through experience. A practice in which identity is not only projected but also embodied and sought in movement. In Fondouk Bouchadakka, this urban movement culture is combined with local spaces, opening up new forms of artistic exploration of identity, visibility and social change.
ABOUT
In her artistic research she combines photography and video to focus on the relationship between body, space and movement. With a background as a professional dancer, she explores how physicality, rhythm and choreography settle in the bodies memories and how they shape visual narratives. Her projects engage with urban performences refreeting to gestues and movements, spaces and architecture, and overlaping media.
EXHIBITIONS
2025 Bremen (de), MEDIA ART LAB c/o OPEN SPACE DOMSHOF
CHOREOGRAPHY & DANCE PROJECTS
2024 Saigon / Nha Trang (vn), Goethe Institut
2022 Seoul (kr), Goethe Institut, Cultural Exchange Program
STUDIES
Bremen (de), Hochschule für Künste Bremen
BIO
Lives in Hamburg and Bremen
LINKS
FEATURED IMAGE
Merve Can. SEE DJERBA Houmt Souk 2025. Photo: Wassim Ben Issa.