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PROMOTING TRANS-NATIONAL DIALOGUE AND SOCIAL DISCOURSE IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA (MENA) REGION

by Zoe Rabinowitz
May 6, 2016
Tunis, Tunisia
Birzeit, Palestine
Yaffa, Israel
Hanover, Germany
Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre (YSDT) – a non-profit organization based in New York City and Palestine – continues its 10th anniversary season with the performance of bound at the Spring Festival on Friday, May 6, 2016 in Tunis, Tunisia. Additional season engagements include: a new production in collaboration with Amir Nizar Zuabi for the opening of the Palestinian Museum in Birzeit on May 18; two solo performances at Al-Soraya Theater in Yaffa on June 2 and 3; and a public presentation on dance at the Tanzkongress in Hanover, Germany on June 19.

Building on the success of their most recent international tour to South Korea and Japan in October, 2015, YSDT brings their work – which promotes trans-national dialogue and social discourse – to North Africa for the first time with the performance of bound, a multimedia evening length production that explores what it means to be restricted by cultural, geographical or political boundaries.

Speaking on her commitment to performing for and educating audiences in the MENA region, YSDT Artistic Director Samar Haddad King says: “Conflict and fragmentation are present everywhere. What interests me is to find ways to move forward by mobilizing and connecting individuals and artists through creative projects. There should always be movement.”

Listing Information

bound
Spring Festival
Friday, May 6th at 8pm
Tunis, Tunisia
Tickets: 10 Dinars
For more information visit: https://www.facebook.com/SpringFestival.mawred/?fref=ts

Palestinian Museum Opening
Wednesday, May 18th, TBA
Birzeit, Palestine
For more information visit: www.palmuseum.org

Noah and Shake
June 2nd and 3rd, TBA
Al-Soraya Theater
10 Mifratz Shlomo promenade, of Yaffa
For more information visit: http://www.arab-hebrew-theatre.org.il/en/index.php

Tanzkongress: On the Notion of Time in Contemporary Dance from the Perspective of Young Arab Artists
Sunday, June 19th at 10am
Schauspielhaus, Prinzenstabe 9, D-30159, Hanover, Germany
For more information visit: http://www.tanzkongress.de/en/programme/congress-programme.html?date=2016-06-19#event-181-0

ABOUT

Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre (YSDT) aims to inspire trans-national dialogue and social discourse through artist development, education, and live performance. Led by Artistic Director Samar Haddad King, Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre (YSDT) was founded in New York City in 2005. Over the past decade, the non-profit has produced more than 30 original works and fostered the careers of over 50 emerging artists. Following seven successful seasons and four international tours, the company expanded its footprint operations to the Arab World, and now operates between the U.S. and Palestine. From its international position, YSDT continues its mission with a special focus on youth and underserved communities through live performance, classes, workshops, lectures, and public presentations. For more information visit: www.ysdt.org

Samar Haddad King (Artistic Director) graduated cum-laude with honors in choreography from the Ailey/Fordham BFA program in New York City under the tutelage of Kazuko Hirabayashi. In 2005, Samar formed Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre (YSDT), a non-profit dance theater company based between NYC and Palestine. Notable commissions include ‘Getting there, staying here.’ (2010), by Hubbard Street 2, where she was the recipient of the National Choreography Competition; ‘Playground’, a site-specific piece for /si:n/ festival in Ramallah (2013); ‘bound’ for Ramallah Contemporary Dance Festival, supported by A.M Qattan Foundation and New York Live Arts (2014); ‘Not/Tob’ for the Qalandia International festival (2014) and ‘non/static aesthetics’ (wen a ramallah and /si:n/ festivals 2015). She was recently awarded the Young Palestinian Talents Award by the French-Palestinian Cultural Institute in Paris in 2015.
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