FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 25, 2017
Contact: Fran Kirmser 917 637 0506 frankirmser@hotmail.com
AGAINST A HARD SURFACE – EXPLORING THE LONG TERM EFFECTS OF LIFE UNDER OCCUPATION
New York, NY –
Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre (YSDT) - non-profit organization based in New York City and Palestine launches Against a Hard Surface. Against a Hard Surface is a poetic, political dance theatre piece created by theatre director Amir Nizar Zuabi and YSDT Artistic Director Samar Haddad King, with an original score by Muqata'a, exploring the long-term effects of life under occupation.
In an era of increasing barriers and isolated environments, this evening length piece imagines a world where natural evolution is fast-forwarded due to unremitting political strain and violence. The result is a testing ground of human resilience, adaptation, and survival. This new work will have a soft premiere and invited showing at Palestinian Museum,http://www.palmuseum.org/language/english, on February 6th, 2017 at 7:30pm.
Location: Museum Street, Birzeit, Palestine
Reservations: info@ysdt.org
Running Time: 70 minutes
The World Premiere of Against a Hard Surface will be presented at Ramallah Contemporary Dance Festival, Ramallah Cultural Palace, April 29th, 2017 at 7:30pm. For more information or interest in ticket email: info@ysdt.org
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:
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.
Amir Nizar Zuabi is an award winning theater writer, Director and Artistic Director of ShiberHur theater company, an associated director of Young Vic London, and a member of the United Theaters Europe for artistic achievement. Writing and directing credits include I am Yusuf and This is my Brother, In the Penal Colony, Alive From Palestine, Oh My Sweet Land The Beloved (co-produced by ShiberHur/Young Vic), Three days of grief, West of us the sea, Mid Spring Musical, Dry Mud (ShiberHur), and Against A Hard Surface. Directing credits includes: Samson and Delilah (Flanders Opera, Antwerp) Jidarriya by Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish (Edinburgh International Festival, Bouffes du Nord and world tour). Forget Herostratus, le Mallade Imaginer, War or More, Sneeze, deep Sorrow, Fall Tale, When The World Was Green, Lanterns Of The King Of Galilee, Taha. Comedy of Errors (Royal Shakespeare Company). Currently Zuabi is writing a play for the National Theatre London.
Against a Hard Surface is supported by the A.M Qattan Foundation/ The Qattan Grant for Performing Arts 2016 and Covillo Lynch Foundation, and co-produced by Sareyyet Ramallah in partnership with the Palestinian Museum
