El Funoun 2009 dance performance constitutes a new artistic and exquisite expression employing innovative ideas and dance styles combined with inherited traditional techniques. Together they reflect the various important eras of our recent history. The performance travels into the Palestinian memory portraying symbolic and important recurrent images from the Ottoman and British colonial times as well as the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestine. The chosen dances illustrate the resurfacing images reminding us of the weariness of a past and present that does not foresee a different future… However, as these images resurface, they work to confirm the determination of the Palestinian people to live on, remain steadfast and resist the tyranny from which suffering emanates, hence hope and resistance is renewed, giving the resilient power and strength to go on in defending the identity and the struggle for independence. The dance symbolizes the will of the Palestinian people in keeping the memory alive despite all schemes to annihilate them.
“Images Remembered” was marked by the richness of the chorography executed by a team of choreographers who reflected their artistic capacities inspired from Palestinian, Arab and world’s dance and music. This collective production employed, for the first time, multi-media projections hence completing the message.
Produced by: El-Funoun Dance Troupe
Choreography by: Noora Baker, Khaled Qatamesh, Hussein A’amar, Sharaf Dar Zayed, Atta Khattab
Assistant Choreographers: Laila Bukhari, Nassir Mansour, Nadia Khattab, Ruba Zaghmouri, Majdi Karakra, Nidal Kaabi
Music: a combination of Arab and European pieces compiled from the audio collection of El-Funoun
