Choreographer Mourad Merzouki, a leading figure in the hip-hop movement since the early 1990s, situates his work at the crossroads of multiple disciplines. Alongside hip-hop dance, explored in all its styles, he incorporates circus arts, martial arts, visual arts, video, and live music. Without losing sight of the movement’s roots and its social and geographical origins, this blending opens up new horizons for dance and brings forth original perspectives.

His training began at the age of seven in Saint-Priest, in eastern Lyon, through the practice of martial arts and circus arts. At fifteen, his encounter with hip-hop culture led him into the world of dance. He turned to choreography and in 1989 co-founded his first company, Accrorap, with Kader Attou, Eric Mezino, and Chaouki Saïd.

From 1996 to the present day, he has created 40 works whose reach continues to expand. In total, more than 2 million spectators have discovered his company’s productions through 4,000 performances in France and abroad, across 65 countries. In support of hip-hop creation, he established a space dedicated to choreographic development: the Pôle Pik Choreographic Center, which opened in Bron in 2009. The creation of this venue also sparked the launch of the Karavel festival, which has become a key event for hip-hop dance on the national stage.

From 1996 to the present day, he has created 40 works whose reach continues to expand. In total, more than 2 million spectators have discovered his company’s productions through 4,000 performances in France and abroad, across 65 countries. In support of hip-hop creation, he established a space dedicated to choreographic development: the Pôle Pik Choreographic Center, which opened in Bron in 2009. The creation of this venue also sparked the launch of the Karavel festival, which has become a key event for hip-hop dance on the national stage.

En juin 2009, le chorégraphe est nommé à la direction du Centre Chorégraphique National de Créteil et du Val-de-MarneIn June 2009, he was appointed director of the National Choreographic Center of Créteil and Val-de-Marne. There, he developed a project entitled “Dance, a Window onto the World,” with openness as its guiding principle. Alongside the creation and touring of his works, he has continued to develop training and outreach initiatives in hip-hop dance, fostering innovative encounters that encourage access to choreographic art and support independent companies. In 2013, he created the Kalypso festival, offering new visibility to hip-hop dance companies in the Île-de-France region. festival Kalypso, offrant un nouvel espace de visibilité aux compagnies de danse hip-hop sur le territoire francilien.

In March 2016, he was appointed artistic advisor to Pôle en Scènes in Bron, a project bringing together the Pôle Pik Choreographic Center and Espace Albert Camus around a shared ambition for the dissemination, training, and creation of live performance. He remains faithful to his artistic approach by building bridges between disciplines, opening up spaces, and engaging ever broader audiences.

In January 2023, after 13 years at the head of the CCN of Créteil and Val-de-Marne, he relocated the Käfig company to eastern Lyon, in Bron and Saint-Priest, reconnecting with the area where he grew up.

Mourad Merzouki has been a member of the choreographic creation support committee of the RAC Île-de-France and Auvergne–Rhône-Alpes. He also serves on the dance sponsorship committee of the Caisse des Dépôts and is listed in Who’s Who. In 2019, he was included in the Petit Larousse Illustré.