The Next Level North Africa program in Tunisia and Algeria in February 2017 proved to be a stellar program of cultural exchange.  The project marked Next Level’s first program in North Africa, and the first two-country residency since the first season.  The Next Level Tunisia/Algeria’s phenomenal team included MC OneBeLo, DJ 81 Neutronz, beatmaker Decap and dancer Big Tara.

The first portion of the residency took place in Tunis, Tunisia, at the Maison des Jeunes in La Marsa.  On a compacted residency, the Next Level team worked with a talented group of Tunisian hip hop artists, and demonstrated the week’s cultural exchange activity at a rockin’ Sunday Park Jam.  While in Tunis, the NL team also got to collaborate with the talented  violinist Houyem Ghattas, an alumna of the State Dept sibling program OneBeat.

The program continued on to Algiers, Algeria for a standard residency in the Algerian capital.  The Next Level team spent two weeks working with Algeria’s finest hip hop artists at ISMAS.  Also while in Algiers, the NL team collaborated with Ifriqya Spirit, an alumni ensemble of the State Dept sibling program CenterStage, to fuse hip hop with Gnawi music.  The program concluded with a raucous final performance