Cairo’s skyline is about to come alive. On October 10 and 11, the rooftop of the El Farida building on Abdel Khalek Tharwat Street will turn into an open-air stage for Rooftop Rituals (Egypt / Netherlands), a new site-specific performance featured in the 13th Downtown Contemporary Arts Festival (D-CAF). The show will run in Arabic at 6:00 pm and English at 8:00 pm, offering audiences two distinct experiences above the city.
Created over the past two months especially for D-CAF, Rooftop Rituals marks the latest evolution of Dutch artist Geelen’s ongoing rooftop series. The project began in 2021 in Tétouan, Morocco, where she turned her personal dance practice into a short film and live performance, exploring rooftops as spaces of freedom and visibility. For Cairo, Geelen collaborates with Egyptian artists Nada Elissa and Marc Labib, shifting the theme toward something deeply human — connection.
The 45-minute performance blends movement, music, and gentle audience interaction. It invites spectators to see rooftops not just as overlooked structures but as poetic meeting points where city noise, sky, and human gesture merge. As one preview describes it, Rooftop Rituals transforms the rooftop into “a space for wonder, wandering, creativity, and connection.”
This year’s D-CAF, running from October 1 to 26, features 34 performances across theatre, new media, music, and visual arts, with over 130 artists and technicians from 18 countries. Since its founding in 2012, the festival has redefined how Egyptians experience art — turning downtown Cairo’s theatres, alleys, and rooftops into vibrant cultural zones. Artistic director Ahmed El Attar calls D-CAF “a festival that reimagines the city as a living theatre.”
Cultural critics view Rooftop Rituals as a natural extension of that vision. Performance scholar Dr. Samar El Masry explains: “Rooftops in Cairo carry private histories and everyday rhythms. When you perform there, you let the city itself become part of the story.”
Staging a rooftop piece in Cairo is no small feat — wind, sound, and space are unpredictable — yet these very elements give it power. By embracing Cairo’s chaos rather than resisting it, Rooftop Rituals become an authentic reflection of the city’s pulse.
More than a performance, it’s a dialogue between Cairo and the sky — an invitation to look upward, listen closely, and rediscover connection in the spaces we usually overlook.
