Trance/Form

Move across culture, genre, time, space, and states of consciousness at Trance/Form, a dance party and live music event that traverses boundaries to create an evening like no other.

What to Expect

During this after-hours dance party at the Rubin Museum, distinctions between music, art, film, and dance dissolve in a night of inner exploration, authentic connections, and fearless expression.

At the base of the Rubin Museum’s spiral staircase, enter a new state of mind with the hypnotic rhythms and otherworldly music of Innov Gnawa, the Grammy-nominated Moroccan Gnawa group known for their unique collaborations with electronic and acoustic musicians. Dance to live audio/video remixes by HAT (Hatim Belyamani) of remix ←→ culture and Turntables on the Hudson’s DJ Busquelo.

Drop into the theater below the dancefloor for a screening of remix ←→ culture’s exquisitely filmed footage of international musicians.

Trance/Form: Bridging Cultural Divides

remix ←→ culture creator Hatim Belyamani works to bridge cultural divides through the transformative power of music, film, and remixing. He collaborates with international musicians and remix artists to record, film, and creatively remix underrepresented music from around the world, from Morocco to China to Brazil—sacred, secular, and degrees in between. Many of these musical traditions are intended to alter one’s state of consciousness, or to bring about different forms of trance.

Through mutual respect, empathy, and meaningful interactions, Trance/Form creates cross-cultural dialogue that offers a sense of shared identity with neighbors, near and far, and elevates these shared stories, shared rhythms, and shared humanity.

Visit the theater screenings at Trance/Form for a closer look at the musicians recorded and filmed for this project.

• 8:30 P.M. Doors
• 8:40 P.M. Tour
• 9:00 P.M. Live music: Innov Gnawa
• 9:45 P.M. Video Remix set by HAT
• 10:30 P.M. Live music: Innov Gnawa
• 11:15 P.M. Video Remix set by HAT
• 12 A.M. DJ set by DJ Busquelo
• 12:30 A.M. Wind down with music curated by NYC Radio Live

Presented with NYC Radio Live

About the Artists

Innov Gnawa: Innov Gnawa is a Grammy-nominated band featuring artists hailing from different cities of Morocco. Led by master Maalem Hassan Ben Jaafer, Innov Gnawa celebrates the ancient spiritual music of North Africa in New York City with an innovative, hypnotic, and ecstatic take on this trance-inducing folk tradition. Gnawa is the ritual trance music of Morocco’s black communities, originally descended from slaves and soldiers once brought to Morocco from Northern Mali, Mauritania, and other sub-Saharan countries.

HAT (Hatim Belyamani): Growing up in Morocco, Hatim was an award-winning classical pianist and guitarist, surrounded by sounds of the country’s Arabic, Amazigh, and sub-Saharan African origins. At Harvard, he studied sociology and music, embracing electronic music as the key to unifying his eclectic influences.

In 2012, Hatim founded remix ←→ culture, an international collective celebrating musical traditions in harmony with digital remix art. They identify a country’s musical traditions, then record, film, produce, release, and remix them. Work began in Hatim’s native Morocco and later expanded to other countries. Since 2015, HAT has performed live remixes of the videos shot by the collective at various festivals and venues worldwide.

Hatim is now shifting his attention to the diverse musical heritage of various immigrant communities in NYC, with whom several collaborations are in the works.

DJ Busquelo: His music melds the folkloric and the futuristic, invoking ancestral rhythms as the blueprint for deep excursions into international dance music culture. A longtime collaborator of and resident DJ at Turntables on the Hudson, he ran the record label RhythmLove with partner Nickodemus, was a resident at Brooklyn’s Bembe club, and most recently founded Present Present, a family-friendly global electronic music and vegetarian food festival.