Yaa Samar! Dance Theater: The Palestine and New York-based company subverting audience expectations 

 Yaa Samar! Dance Theater: The Palestine and New York-based company subverting audience expectations 
Social Garage - NYU. (Supplied)
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Updated 17 March 2023

Yaa Samar! Dance Theater: The Palestine and New York-based company subverting audience expectations 

 Yaa Samar! Dance Theater: The Palestine and New York-based company subverting audience expectations 

DUBAI: For the past few months, Yaa Samar! Dance Theater has been organizing a weekly online class for artists in Gaza. “Last week, it took us 52 minutes to get one group in Gaza a strong enough connection to start the class,” says Samar Haddad King, the company’s artistic and founding director, referencing the territory’s chronic electricity crisis. “You see the disappointment from the artists and the fatigue caused by just trying to do something small.” 

This is just one glitch among many. Haddad King, who is in Haifa when we talk, rattles off a series of stories related to the disruption and oppression caused by Israel’s occupation of the West Bank: People taking 16 hours to travel eight kilometers, delayed performances, missed shows, and artists hurrying dangerously through warmups.  

“Sometimes before these shows they go through severe trauma at the checkpoint, but I think there’s this ability to kind of push things down in order to accomplish something and then you deal with the repercussions,” she says. 




Zoe Rabinowitz by Chrissy Connors. (Supplied)

A transnational company based between New York and Palestine, Yaa Samar! Dance Theater puts a significant amount of time and effort into education and engagement programs, says Zoe Rabinowitz, the company’s executive director. But even developing and working with artists is a challenge. “One of our current teaching artists from Jerusalem is now in Denmark. This is a big thing,” she says. “Artists leave. It’s a very difficult place to live and work in and so we’re constantly investing in developing artists — and then that community shifts and changes. We’ve been lucky enough to work with a really solid core group of artists, but visas are not always approved to the US, we have to make last minute casting changes, and there have been years where up to 40 percent of our programming has been cancelled due to security issues, visa denials — the full gamut of things.” 

Can dance be anything but political in Palestine? Is dance a form of resistance? While the company’s work is not necessarily ideological, “there is something about raising your voice and our story being told, and maybe being told in a different way,” says Haddad King. “Just being seen, just screaming out, talking it out, dancing it out is political. We are politicized.” 




Palestinian actor Khalifa Natour in 'Last Ward' at NYUAD in February. (Supplied)

“I think doing contemporary work as a Palestinian-American company is a bit of a perspective shift for a lot of folks who, if you say ‘Palestinian,’ are expecting dabke or a more-cultural dance performance,” adds Rabinowitz. “So (by being) in this space that is melding a lot of different forms — we have folks that are dabke dancers, we have ballet dancers, we have hip-hop, we have circus, we have theater performers — we’re really making a hybrid form that’s dealing with contemporary themes, and it’s not life in the camp and the hardships of the Palestinian struggle. That’s not always at the forefront of a narrative. And that subverts the expectations sometimes of an audience, which I think is really important.” 

Formed in 2005, Yaa Samar! Dance Theater’s mission is to promote understanding through the arts. It does so through cross-cultural dialogue and social discourse, with its performers both formally trained and self-taught. By working with artists from across the Arab world, Asia and the US, all of whom are from a variety of dance and theatre backgrounds, the company has created this hybrid, global form of multimedia dance theatre that Rabinowitz talks about. 

Its most recent production is “Last Ward,” a performance that follows one man’s journey towards death in a hospital room. Written and directed by Amir Nizar Zuabi, with choreography and music by Haddad King, the work had its Arab world premiere at The Arts Center at NYU Abu Dhabi in February and stars the Palestinian actor Khalifa Natour. As Natour’s character reflects on his life, relationships and connection to place, the ritual of doctor visits, family calls and nurses administering food and medicine transforms into an increasingly bizarre landscape of tragedy and humor. 




Wael Abu Jabal. (Supplied)

 “It’s interesting that Palestine is not in the show at all, and yet it’s an opportunity for people to see this man, who’s a Palestinian man, as a human,” says Rabinowitz. “And to really have compassion and empathy for his experience is a powerful thing.” 

“It’s perhaps our most political work because of that,” adds Haddad King. “We have more overt political themes in (works such as) ‘Against A Hard Surface,’ also created by Nizar and I. There are dancers bashing themselves against a wall and there’s a lot of nuance in that — a lot of story in that. But ‘Last Ward’ isn’t overtly political and yet it’s highly politicized because cancer can get everyone. There’s no wall.” 

The daughter of a Palestinian mother and American father, Haddad King grew up in Alabama before moving to New York and ultimately to Palestine, where she floats between cities and towns on both sides of the Green Line. “I feel like a constant Bedouin,” she says simply. To date, the company has created more than 30 original performances, including site-specific and durational, immersive works. Telling the stories of underrepresented communities and uplifting the voices of marginalized populations, the company’s work is inspired by personal histories – Haddad King’s included.  




Social Garage - NYU. (Supplied)

“When your name’s Samar and your name’s spelt as my name is in the deep south, there’s always a question attached to your name,” she says. “‘Oh, where are you from?’ So identity, from ever since I can remember, was a part of this constant question of where you are from. That obviously changed and morphed with age, with experience, with talking about where I’m from. Are you ‘from’ the place you grew up, or ‘from’ the place that your family was exiled from?”   

“The development of the company and the development of her voice as an artist has always been very linked to that identity and also a desire to tell stories rooted in that perspective,” adds Rabinowitz. “Because you could see a lack of that, in the US especially. Since Samar relocated (to Palestine) in 2010, it has been a real negotiation of ‘How do you have a transnational company, how do you straddle both places, how do you be from both places?’ So the company is sort of part of that negotiation as well.” 

The company is working on a new piece called “The Gathering,” which will premiere in New York next year, and Haddad King is writing a musical. The former is a participatory performance work inspired by her experience as a Palestinian of the diaspora. Part-staged work, part-improvisational score, the piece will utilize technology, storytelling, sound design and play to examine what brings people together in celebration, conflict, protest and sport. 

“It’s trying to break down the barriers between art and audience,” says Haddad King. “So that feels exciting — to keep trying to make art accessible. I would love to keep touring ‘Last Ward’ because I think it still has a big life and the message needs to get out there. But also doing work in public spaces and doing work that doesn’t require a certain level of technicality can get art to where art is not; can get it to people that don’t necessarily go to art. And that’s important. Just to give people an experience.” 


Europe’s first majority Black orchestra debuts stateside

Europe’s first majority Black orchestra debuts stateside
Updated 23 March 2023

Europe’s first majority Black orchestra debuts stateside

Europe’s first majority Black orchestra debuts stateside
  • The London-headquartered Chineke! echoes similar efforts in the US, including the Detroit-based Sphinx organization that promotes representation of Black and Latino artists in classical music

NEW YORK: After more than three decades in the classical music industry, British double bassist Chi-chi Nwanoku began grappling with the question that had troubled her for years: Why was she consistently the only Black musician onstage?
“Why did I never ask anyone about it? Why did we never talk about it?” she describes wondering. “Was I being tolerated, or were people just completely unaware?“
“Or were people okay with the status quo?“
In 2015 Nwanoku took a leading role in creating a more diverse future for classical music, which, from musicians to conductors to repertoire, traditionally skews heavily white.
She founded Chineke!, Europe’s first majority Black and ethnically diverse professional orchestra, which this week played at the prestigious New York Philharmonic’s David Geffen Hall in Manhattan’s Lincoln Center.
The performance was part of their long-awaited North American debut tour — it was among the many performances the pandemic pushed back — which included stops in New York, Ottawa, Toronto, Boston, Worcester and Ann Arbor.
The New York show featured the pioneering composer Florence Price’s Symphony No. 1, along with a rendition of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto featuring the New York Phil’s principal clarinet Anthony McGill.

The London-headquartered Chineke! echoes similar efforts in the United States, including the Detroit-based Sphinx organization that promotes representation of Black and Latino artists in classical music.
Yet the League of American Orchestras, which represents professional and amateur symphonies across the United States, found in a 2014 study on diversity that just 1.4 percent of orchestra musicians were Black — and there’s little reason to believe much has changed.
“Because the great majority of American orchestras are not individually transparent with racial and ethnic data on their artists, we do not know the percentage of Black orchestral artists in our orchestras today,” writes the Black Orchestral Network, a collective of Black musicians from more than 40 orchestras launched in 2022.
“From our vantage point, however, we have seen little meaningful progress.”
It’s mind-boggling to Nwanoku, who told AFP during a rehearsal break that “it seems to me that the only colleagues of color that I see who have a job in an orchestra in this country are those who are exceptional.”
“We have to be that much better to actually be given a job.”
Nwanoku believes that especially for young people, seeing more diverse faces onstage is “an immediate door-opener.”
“It’s the most incredibly winning thing to feel represented on a stage,” she said. “Even if when you walk through the front of house to buy a ticket, if you don’t see anyone who looks like you, that is immediately uncomfortable.”
“But when you see people that look like you in any place — in the supermarket, at the train station, at the concert hall, at the cinema — you immediately feel that is a place that I can walk into with confidence,” Nwanoku continued.
“You can be what you can see.”


Sharjah Museums Authority to exhibit replicas of artifacts that blind visitors can touch

Sharjah Museums Authority to exhibit replicas of artifacts that blind visitors can touch
Updated 22 March 2023

Sharjah Museums Authority to exhibit replicas of artifacts that blind visitors can touch

Sharjah Museums Authority to exhibit replicas of artifacts that blind visitors can touch
  • The specialist ‘tactile tours’ will be led by guides with extensive experience of working with visually impaired people
  • The initiative is part of the authority’s efforts to offer more inclusive museum experiences for people with disabilities

DUBAI: The Sharjah Museums Authority is putting on display replicas of some artifacts from its collections so that visitors with visual impairments can touch them.

The specialist ‘tactile tours’ will begin next month, the Emirates News Agency reported. In addition to being able to get their hands on the models of objects as part of the interactive museum experience, visually impaired visitors will also be offered brochures in braille containing additional information about the exhibits.

One of treasures a replica of which has been made is a copy of the Qur’an attributed to Uthman ibn Affan from the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization’s Abu Bakr Gallery of Islamic Faith. It is written in Kufic script on parchment made from animal skins.

Other replicas at the same gallery include a 6-meter-long Kaaba curtain decorated with Qur’anic verses and Islamic patterns, and a Qur’an that is one of the most prominent works by calligraphist Ahmed Karahisari.

At Sharjah Archaeology Museum, the replicas include a 7,000-year-old necklace discovered in Al-Buhais 18 cemetery, and a rectangular, soft-stone box dating back to between 2500 and 2000 B.C.

The tactile tours will be led by guides with extensive experience of working with visually impaired people. More replicas are due to be added next year.

Manal Ataya, the authority’s director-general, said the initiative is in line with the organization’s efforts to support people with disabilities and inclusion.

“At SMA we aim to provide an accessible and more inclusive museum experience for people with all disabilities by offering them equal access to our museums, displays and programs,” Ataya said.

The authority has launched a number of initiatives for people with disabilities in recent years, including an “Autism-Friendly Museums” project in 2018 that was the first of its kind in the Gulf region, according to the Emirates News Agency.


What We Are Watching Today: ‘New Saudi Voices’ on Netflix

What We Are Watching Today: ‘New Saudi Voices’ on Netflix
Updated 22 March 2023

What We Are Watching Today: ‘New Saudi Voices’ on Netflix

What We Are Watching Today: ‘New Saudi Voices’ on Netflix
  • The flicks were first showcased by emerging Saudi filmmakers at the Red Sea Film Festival in 2021

RIYADH: “New Saudi Voices,” a collection of 11 short films, was released by Netflix in 2022. Each story has its own flare and characters on unique journeys.

The flicks were first showcased by emerging Saudi filmmakers at the Red Sea Film Festival in 2021 under the New Saudi/New Cinema Shorts program.

All short movies stayed true to their genre including horror, science fiction, and comedy. The videography shots in the non-animated episodes reflected the mood of the story through light or dark hues.

However, some films fell short and had gaps in the storytelling process, leaving the viewer feeling underwhelmed or surprised by the turn of events. Many others delivered thought-provoking messages.

Khalid Fahad’s “Little Bird” had won the American Film Award and the Best Short Film Award at the Saudi Film Festival.

In the story, a boy named Malik has a difficult life and the film captures his loneliness, sadness, and frustration, with a tragic revelation at the end.

While the idea behind the movie is explained through a statement at the end, the initial viewing alone does not capture it fully and is somewhat shrouded in ambiguity. What makes the project bold is its foray into a topic that is seldom covered by films in the region.

“The Day I Lost Myself” by director Rami Alzayer highlights the daily struggles of people suffering from anxiety disorder. In the film, Salem is on his way to a job interview and gets stuck in an elevator with a stranger where they dive into a conversation about his condition.

The film contributes to an important conversation about mental health and brings awareness and understanding on the topic through the character’s personal journey.

Overall, “New Saudi Voices” is an ambitious and effective project that brings an array of diverse storytellers together to depict various facets of Saudi life.


UAE’s Sheikha Fatima bint Hazza honored at London’s Arab Woman Award

UAE’s Sheikha Fatima bint Hazza honored at London’s Arab Woman Award
Updated 22 March 2023

UAE’s Sheikha Fatima bint Hazza honored at London’s Arab Woman Award

UAE’s Sheikha Fatima bint Hazza honored at London’s Arab Woman Award
  • She was recognized for her philanthropy and her contributions to female empowerment
  • ‘I am proud to represent my country, where women have not had to struggle to obtain their rights’

LONDON: The UAE’s Sheikha Fatima bint Hazza was honored on Tuesday with the Arab Woman Award at a ceremony in London in recognition of her contributions to female empowerment in the region and her philanthropic efforts in various countries, Vogue Arabia reported.

Sheikha Fatima has been a strong supporter of cultural initiatives, particularly those involving the arts and sports. 

She has endorsed several programs aimed at boosting the cultural scene in the UAE and the region through her role as chairwoman of the board of directors of the Fatima bint Mubarak Ladies Sports Academy and the Fatima bint Hazza Cultural Foundation. 

Her other accomplishments include increasing access to education in Bangladesh, building schools in Kenya, and forming the Fatima bint Hazza Fund for Emirati women to pursue higher education abroad, Vogue Arabia reported.

She is “committed to enhancing the role of women in various ways, as she is a supporter of sports and arts, and we are honored to bestow her with the Achievement Award in Cultural Development,” the Arab London Foundation said.

The philanthropist has also helped broaden young people’s interest in fields such as art, literature, sustainability and community interaction, Vogue Arabia reported. 

The Fatima bint Hazza Cultural Foundation recently launched a series of short stories for young people focusing on culture, local identity and sustainability

Upon accepting her award, Sheikha Fatima praised Emirati leaders and their efforts to encourage women to pursue their dreams.

“Effective participation and making progress and positive change are the core values that we have been raised on,” she said. 

“I am proud to represent my country, the UAE, where women have not had to struggle to obtain their rights but have always been at the forefront since the establishment of the state.”


Nora Attal models for Gigi Hadid’s Guest in Residence 

Nora Attal models for Gigi Hadid’s Guest in Residence 
Updated 22 March 2023

Nora Attal models for Gigi Hadid’s Guest in Residence 

Nora Attal models for Gigi Hadid’s Guest in Residence 

DUBAI: British Moroccan model Nora Attal showed her support for her friend Dutch Palestinian catwalk star Gigi Hadid by modeling for her fashion label Guest in Residence. 

Hadid shared a picture on her brand’s Instagram page of Attal wearing one of her cashmere pieces from the label’s Core collection.

She then reshared the picture to her private account, tagging Attal and adding a white heart.

Instagram/ @guestinresidence 

The pair have appeared on many runways together, including the Versace show in Los Angeles earlier in March. 

Hadid wore two outfits. The first was a floor-length gown with a semi-sheer corset bodice and a voluminous satin bottom, while her second look featured a structured black blazer, a knee-high skirt with black leather gloves, shoes and a bag. 

Attal wore a sheer turtle-neck top with a puffy miniskirt and black stockings. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Nora Attal (@noraattal)

Hadid launched her clothing label, which features soft, colorful knitwear, in September. 

“Over the last handful of years, I didn’t want to be backed into starting my own line just because there was an offer on the table or a deal to be made,” she wrote to her followers on Instagram at the time.

As a result, the 27-year-old rejected many opportunities until she found a path that “felt genuine.”

“The earliest days of Guest in Residence came about when I started to question the cashmere market, and those answers gave me a path,” she wrote.

“I believe that because of its sustainable qualities — natural and made to cherish and to pass down — cashmere is a luxury that should be more accessible.”

The model hopes her brand will encourage investment in quality pieces at reasonable prices, “and a wardrobe that can grow and change with your style, that can endure life with you, and that can become heirlooms.”