El-Funoun, the Palestinian Popular Dance Troupe, was established in 1979. The group is made up of about 50 dancers, singers, musicians and support personnel. It is an independent, nonprofit organization that is almost entirely volunteer-based. Their website, www.el-funoun.org, is an online exhibition of the troupe’s productions complete with video clips and photo gallery.
Since its inception, El-Funoun has aimed at expressing the spirit of Arab-Palestinian folklore and contemporary culture through unique combinations of traditional and stylized dance and music. The troupe’s repertoire consists of folkloric dance forms called “dabke,” in addition to more elaborate choreographed styles that embody El-Funoun’s unique vision of Palestinian dance.
Producing cultural displays in a traditional society living under occupation has always presented El-Funoun with serious challenges. Travel bans and random arrests of troupe members, on the one hand, were some of El-Funoun’s special share of the repressive measures of the Israeli Occupation. On the other hand, discrimination against women, resistance to cultural change and relative intolerance of intellectual pluralism have symbolized the obstacles the troupe had to reckon with as a result of some of the outdated norms in Palestinian society.
Despite all the obstacles to its growth, El-Funoun has succeeded in producing pioneering works that have been received with enthusiasm. In Palestine, the troupe holds an impressive track record of over 1,000 performances since 1979. But El-Funoun also aims to build cultural bridges with the world. To further this goal, El-Funoun tours annually. Recently the troupe performed in Bahrain at the Arab Music Festival before moving on to the United States where they danced before audiences in New York, Washington, D.C. and Dearborn, Michigan.