Coming Soon revisits Ingres' painting La Grande Odalisque to playfully subvert the Orientalist gaze that shaped this iconic image. On stage, a multifaceted figure shifts between characters and tableaux: mischievous, cheeky, and in control of pleasure as a skill. Through grotesqueness and exaggeration, familiar images are distorted and multiplied, opening space for new narratives.
Soraya Leila Emery is a Swiss-Moroccan choreographer and dancer based in Zurich. She graduated in contemporary dance from CFPArts in Geneva in 2014 and from SEAD Salzburg in 2017, and completed her Master's degree in choreography at ZHdK in Zurich in June 2024.
Her work centers on female pleasure. From a feminist perspective, she examines representations of the Arab female body, the transmission of cultural identity, and, in more recent work, the influence of Orientalist heritage and imagery.
Since 2023, she has been developing a choreographic trilogy composed of TURN ON, Coming Soon, and Kan Ya Makan, which explores the relationships between pleasure, desire, and the gaze, with a particular focus on Orientalist representations. Created as part of her collaboration with TanzPlan Ost (2023/2024), TURN ON was selected for the Swiss Selection at the 2025 Festival d’Avignon and for Aerowaves 2026. As an associated artist at Tanzhaus Zürich from 2025 to 2028, she created Coming Soon and is currently developing the final chapter of the trilogy, Kan Ya Makan, which is set to premiere in 2028.
Practical information
Tickets : CHF 12 per evening
Your ticket gives you access to all performances taking place that evening.
Don’t forget to reserve your seat for each performance.
Tickets available on site and online at emergentia.ch from Monday, 28 September.
Concept, Artistic Direction, Choreography: Soraya Leila Emery
Performance: Soraya Leila Emery
Role Replacement & Choreographic Development Support: Hakima Sinekli
Sound Design: Sinan Moses
Lighting Design: Ursula Degen
Costume & Set Design: Moni Wespi
Set Design Assistant: Nina Orgiu
Headdress Design: Carolina Misztela
Puppetry Consultant: Georgia Paliogianni
Art History Expertise & Outside Eye: Hortense Belhôte
Outside Eye: Cassiel Gaube
Technical Direction on Tour: Patrik Rimann, Jon Brunke
Dramaturgy (Tanzhaus Zürich): Lea Moro
Critical Friend: Meloe Gennai
Accessibility Consultant: Kristina Jankovic
Production: hot stuff
Production: Romeo Oliveras
Touring & Distribution: Simon Fleury
Co-productions: Tanzhaus Zürich, Théâtre de l’Oriental Vevey
Supported by: Stadt Zürich Kultur, Fachstelle Kultur Kanton Zürich, Pro Helvetia – Swiss Arts Council, Stanley Thomas Johnson Stiftung, Anne-Marie Schindler Stiftung, Oertli-Stiftung, SIS – Schweizerische Interpretenstiftung
Partners: Tanzhaus Zürich – Accompliceship (CH), K3 | Kampnagel Hamburg (DE), Pro Helvetia – Cairo research trip (MA), Rote Fabrik (CH), Théâtre de l’Oriental, Vevey (CH), Dansomètre, Vevey (CH), Dampfzentrale Bern (CH)
