Donate today to help El-Funoun continue their 45-year legacy of Palestinian cultural resistance and liberatory, groundbreaking art.
Members of the premiere dance group in Palestine, El-Funoun Dance Troupe, will offer a special performance and presentation about dabke as a form of cultural preservation and resistance.
Dabke, the traditional Palestinian dance form performed at weddings and other celebrations, is the foundation of El-Funoun’s innovative dance style. The dancers will discuss the history of El-Funoun as a vital Palestinian cultural institution and the challenges the troupe and its members face in sustaining cultural production and performance amidst a military occupation aimed at silencing, suppressing, and erasing Palestinian society and culture.
After the presentation, audience members will be invited to learn dabke dance steps, participate in a traditional dabke circle, and meet with the dancers. The performance and workshop will be followed by a reception with food and drinks.
About El-Funoun Palestinian Popular Dance Troupe:
For 45 years, El-Funoun Palestinian Dance Troupe has been preserving, promoting, and reimagining Palestinian culture. Established in 1979 by a small group of artists, the Troupe today comprises close to 300 volunteer members. The Troupe is committed to dance education, running its own dance school and youth troupe, Barem El-Funoun, in Palestine and conducting dabke training in Palestine and around the world. Through its work, El-Funoun aims to challenge oppression and resist Israel’s attempts at cultural erasure. The Troupe is currently working on their seventeenth major production, Zaff, about life in a refugee camp.
El-Funoun refuses conditional funding from international aid agencies and aid from organizations that have failed to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, which has had significant material consequences.
Show Category: Dance
THE PORTAL: Opening Pathways to New and Forgotten Realities
Venture into “The Portal,” a gateway to alternate realities, justice, release, and fantasy. Luke Stewart and Kayla Farrish will guide us through an improvisational journey of music and dance, forging dynamic arcs and eruptions that challenge our perceptions of what could be. This event will open spaces to our portals, slipping into new futures while holding tethers to our pasts. Engage with the energy of transformation and possibility as we collectively explore the intersections of time, space, and the boundless potential of our imaginations.
Art Workers are Artists Too
Host: Champagne Jerry
Artists: Sarai Frazier, Andy Sowers, Žilvinas Jonuśas, ESSA.A (Electric Sewage Systems and Analysis), Naomi Harrison-Clay and Tal Mor, Noodt, Matthew Deinhart + Sara Vandenheuvel, Ansel Combs, Jimmy Kavetas and Friends, Emily LaRochelle + Sarazina Joy Stein, Sophia Alaniz, Andrew Fox, Robin A. Ediger-Seto, AMARII, MF BUTCH, CULEBRA, Georgina Kritikos, Sophia Alaniz, Alex Vasquez-Dheming, Evangeline Dillard, and Yisel G.
While artists toil to bring their work to life, there are many unsung heroes that often labor behind the scenes, weaving the intricate threads that bring an artist’s vision to the public. “Art Workers are Artists Too” celebrates and shines a spotlight on the inherent artistry embedded within the daily lives of arts workers, inspiring a shift in perspective to foster a greater understanding and recognition of their skills and creativity. Our crew members, hailing from diverse production backgrounds in theatre, dance, and music, bring a unique set of skills honed from their own artistic practices to support the work of their fellow artists. Grounded in an ethos of support, this creative exchange forms the foundation for a vibrant collaborative environment.
The night honors the vital contributions of those working behind the scenes but also encourages a broader acknowledgment of the artistry, extending beyond the spotlight to encompass the unseen labor wrapped into the creative process.
All of the proceeds raised from this event will support our Derek Lloyd Production Fellowship.
Photo Credit: Rachel Papo
Young Boy Dancing Group 2024
Experimental collective Young Boy Dancing Group ignites communal catharsis through mercurial and modular movement. Their raw and intimate live performances draw inspiration from post-apocalyptic and DIY aesthetics, constructing a ballet of structured improvisation. Here, the body moves with the ethereal embrace of light as it becomes contorted and vulnerable. Their work evokes us to submit to chaos. Since their inception in 2014, YBDG’s work has undergone a perpetual evolution – each scene, locale, and performance injects vitality into the work, integrating the city’s diverse dance community.
Co-presented with OCD Chinatown.
You can hear footsteps
Access Provision: ASL Interpretation will be provided on May 31, 7pm.
Elliot Reed Laboratories presents a dance where linguistic expression, and introspection converge. In this solo performance, Reed assumes the role of a storyteller, producing a world of inner and outer dialogues in search of freedom. Reed considers the dynamics of consumption, spectatorship, and the sublimation of self through this offering, engaging in a thought-provoking exploration of both the individual and the audience.
*Please Note: This production contains strobe lighting which may be disruptive to people who are sensitive to light.
You can hear footsteps is the Performance Space Annual Visionary Commission generously supported by the Performance Space Visionaries, additional support is provided by ICI—Centre chorégraphique national de Montpellier Occitanie / Pyrénées Méditerranée under the Direction of Christian Rizzo, and by the National Performance Network (NPN) Artist Engagement Fund.