My Journey
Handala Troupe Dabka
Trainer & Choreographer, Safa Village
I joined the troupe in 2008 as a school student, along with a group of boys and girls. What started as a summer camp focused on dabke grew into a long journey that continued until 2021.
During these years, I worked not only as a dancer but also as a trainer and choreographer. Handala became a space for experimentation, learning, and growth where the first seeds of my ideas about movement and research in dabke began to take shape.
El-Funoun Palestinian Dance Troupe
Dancer & Choreographer
I joined El-Funoun Palestinian Dance Troupe in 2010. For me, El-Funoun was a window to the world, a new way of seeing life. It was an environment full of creativity, and one of the most important lessons I learned there was how to love life and how to give without expecting anything in return.
This philosophy deeply influenced my presence on stage and my approach to choreography. My main role in El-Funoun was as a dancer, though I also occasionally contributed to choreography in several artistic works.
One of the most important projects for me within El-Funoun was Dabke Language. Through this project, my understanding of movement and its origins expanded, and it pushed me to think more deeply about my own movement identity. It also led me to question Palestinian dance in a broader sense, and dabke in particular, asking how it can express our individual emotions and reflect our contemporary daily lives.
The Rooster
2016 · Dancer
The Rooster is a Palestinian/Lebanese production, influenced by dabke folk dance, conveying the social and political experience of the region through the character of Al-Deek, the Rooster. The piece features music by El-Funoun and Syrian poetry by Nizar Qabbani, and uses the characteristics of Al-Deek to examine chauvinism and dictatorship.
Badke Remix
Dancer
A remix is an edited version of an existing song. Badke(remix) is a remake of the dance performance with 10 Palestinian dancers that toured worldwide between 2013 and 2016, created by Koen Augustijnen, Rosalba Torres and Hildegard De Vuyst. The reissue of Badke is now artistically in Palestinian hands, namely Amir Sabra and Ata Khatab, and becomes Badke(remix).
The title is a conscious reversal of dabke, the name of the Palestinian folk dance and the starting point of the performance. With backgrounds in traditional dabke, contemporary dance, hip-hop, capoeira or circus, the Palestinian performers bring a contemporary version of this dance that is traditionally reserved for (wedding) parties. Badke(remix) displays a zest for life and passion for dancing as a form of resistance.
