“Jihene Slimani is a multidisciplinary artist and visionary movement director whose work bridges dance, film, ritual and collective memory.

Her artistic journey is rooted in the underground cultures of house and hip-hop, while embracing cinematic storytelling, ancestral practices, and sacred performances.

Born and raised in France with North African and Egyptian heritage, Jihene first trained in hip-hop and house dance before diving into international street competitions, where she earned multiple titles including Juste Debout (2008-2009-2018), Ghost Flow Movement (2016), and finalist at Ladies of Hip Hop NYC (2024).

She founded the collective Ladies At Work and co-directed Nefer Global Movement, working alongside global figures like Toyin Sogunro, Tatiana Desardouin and Niki Awandee, Nubian Néné, Latasha Barnes. With them, she developed dance pieces performed at Jacob’s Pillow, Palais des Glaces.
She is also part of the crew Black Jack Clubbing project among Eric Rickysoul Brfalan, Clara Bajado, Matyouz and Diego Dolciami and performed at Summer Dance Forever, Palais de L’immigration, la Villette, San Francisco Dance Festival and Jimenez was part of the opera Les Indes Galantes at the Opéra de Paris, choreographed by Bintou Dembele.

Jihene was movement director on The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon (AMC, 2023), coaching actors like Clémence Poésy and Norman Reedus. Her choreographic language blends social dances, narrative gestures, trance states and energetic healing.

As a filmmaker, she graduated from École Kourtrajmé and directed several short films selected at Cannes Short Film Corner, Clermont-Ferrand, Montreuil and Nikon Film Festival, receiving awards for best direction and best dance film. Her work explores themes of feminine power, liberation and collective healing through ritual cinema.

She is also the founder and artistic director of Bastet Festival – the first French platform dedicated to female-led street culture and ritual clubbing, gathering over 100 international artists.

Jihene has collaborated with major figures in dance, fashion and music including Emmanuelle Béart, Ladj Ly, Alexis Manenti, Blue Nefertiti (Les Nubians), Celia Wa, Cheetah, Ash to the Eye and around 40 female pluridisciplinary artists

Her ongoing project Dance of the Auras merges alchemy, house music and somatic research into a transformative body of work combining performance, cinema and community-based rituals.”