Mounia Nassangar

A preeminent figure in waacking in France and internationally, Mounia Nassangar is a choreographer, dancer, actor, model, DJ, event producer and director of her own dance company. From the age of five, she explored dance styles as diverse as popping, locking, new style, house dance, dancehall and street jazz before specializing in waacking.

In 2018, Mounia gained wider recognition through Jean-Paul Gaultier's Fashion Freak Show and the film Climax by Gaspar Noé, which was presented in the Directors’ Fortnight section at the Cannes Film Festival the same year. In 2019, she created the waacking piece Oui, et vous ?  with the collective Ma Dame Paris, founded by Sonia Bel Hadj Brahim, Josepha Madoki and Mounia Nassangar. She also joined Cie Black Sheep.

In 2022, she choreographed Aya Nakamura for the music video "SMS," in which she also appears, and worked as movement director for Kelela. In 2023, she appeared as a dancer in Travis Scott's music video "MODERN JAM." As an event producer, she organized the Waack in Paris festival at venues such as the Gaîté Lyrique and the Carreau du Temple, as part of events like Nuit Blanche Paris and Defected Croatia. 

She has also worked as assistant choreographer on Lancôme’s Idôle campaign and collaborated with brands including Tommy Jeans (social media) and Jaeger-LeCoultre (the Master campaign). As a model, Mounia Nassangar has fronted campaigns for Evian x Balmain, Scandal by Jean Paul Gaultier and MAC Cosmetics. She is also one of the faces of Erborian and has walked for designer Burc Akyol. In 2023, she founded her own dance company, cie.nassangar, where she is currently creating STUCK. 

Text by Donnia Ghezlaine-Lala, author and journalist