Silver Jubilee
(1979-2004)

El-Funoun
Palestinian Popular Dance Troupe

On March 9th 2004, El-Funoun celebrates its Silver Jubilee. In any country it would be a momentous achievement for a dance company to continue creating work for 25 years; in Palestine, such an achievement is even more revealing. For in the face of the brutal Israeli military occupation and repression of everything Palestinian, including cultural entities, and despite the inhibiting role that some lingering social traditions have played, El-Funoun was able not only to persevere, but to grow, to develop, to experiment, to challenge, to resist, and to kindle the dream of freedom, justice, and peace.

Instead of asking the group to write an auto-biography for the occasion, we chose to put together a selection of opinions voiced about El-Funoun, specifically after the debut of their latest production, “Haifa, Beirut & Beyond.” Together, these eloquent testimonies draw a picture of not just a dance group, but a cultural transformation process embodied in a group that succeeded in coupling unchallenged popularity with consistent creativity.

Testimonies

(1) A Cultural Endeavor of the Highest Caliber

“Haifa, Beirut & Beyond” was indeed gripping, the choreography original, the music haunting and quite moving, with the overall effect of an integrated and rapidly unfolding experience.

My criticism (if you can call it that) is the lack of sufficient relief from the intensity. A very high plateau was achieved almost instantly and sustained throughout, with only a minor variation (the temporary reunion). The pain could become intolerable.

The lighting, stage design, costumes, and mix of modes were all effective. The dancers were certainly invigorating, and they made up in enthusiasm and stage presence what little they lacked in sophistication.

I'm extremely proud (at the personal and collective levels!) of the Troupe in all aspects. As a Palestinian, I feel that this is precisely what is lacking in our public presentation--an artistic, cultural endeavor of the highest caliber that would render our reality comprehensible and place it in the middle of a human expression of creativity that makes it recognizable in a multi-faceted manner.

I applaud the vigor, the creativity, the dedication, and the energy.

This was certainly an experience of Aristotlean dimensions--pity and fear--but more so as an artistic expression that “delights and instructs” while increasing awareness of the human condition.

Mabrouk, and all the more power to El-Funoun.

By: Hanan Ashrawi, secretary General of Miftah

(2) Quenching our Thirst for Creativity

In a human moment full of defiance of the customary, we find in ourselves a great desire to quench to the utmost a thirst for things, especially those that are distinguished. I’ve frequently exhausted my body by clinging to my seat in a theater while watching repeated screenings of a film that I truly loved; I’ve always gulped large amounts of fresh, clear, natural spring water after a BBQ in the simmering summer heat; and I’ve often crawled in the dark to my favourite rock to delightfully enjoy the view at sunset. All these were instances of the call of desire to satiate a craving for special delicacies.

For quite some time the hand of desire had not been extended to my body or soul, until that call came from “Haifa” and resonated in “Beirut,” evoking the same path that our predecessors had trodden, capturing the sad sounds of their stomps and the aroma of their weary breaths. That was the call of the young men and women of El-Funoun who delighted us in their performance of “Haifa, Beirut & Beyond.”

I vividly recall that I’ve never missed a production of this ever evolving creative dance group; so when I sat on my seat a few minutes before the show had started, and while the dancers were busy preparing backstage, I felt that the group’s fertile heritage in my memory was simultaneously preparing me to receive El-Funoun anew. But, at the time, I wasn’t alone in my thirst for a sense of balance in my soul and my humanity, most in the audience shared that thirst.

I cannot deny that from the first minutes of the performance I was compelled to channel all my energy to focus on seeing and hearing. I tried to draw on all the space available in my heart and mind; I unlocked all the domains of my feelings and emotions to receive this vociferous madness of creativity on stage. I felt that all my parts started to work in unison, with persistence, in order for me not to miss any piece of this warm artistic splendor which bombarded me from every side of stage. The beauty, I felt, was embodied in the music, the décor, the lyrics, the dancers’ expressions, their movement and their gestures.

The elegance and sincerity of the movements fulfilled my soul and stored their surplus in my memory. Hours after the end of the show, I reflected upon those memories and only then was I able to explain to myself the perplexing ability of those dancers to lift my soul in a flash from the depth of sorrow to the soaring heights of elation.

El-Funoun’s work made me feel nostalgic, as if I were in exile, yearning to return. I sensed in it a spirit and technique appropriated from the future in an inspired form that defines creativity. The men and woman of the group were like seeds of the earth, gathered on the path to a meadow of art, vision and freedom.

By: Ziad Izzat, professor at Birzeit University, and visual artist

(3) How charming this persistence!

I attended El-Funoun’s rehearsals right before the premiere of “Haifa, Beirut & Beyond” to capture the creative process in its phases of progress, while the stage is still cramped with details coalescing to announce the ultimate birth of this production.

A group of dancers forming a circle, discussing, debating, warming up, relaxing … and despite the differences in age and sex, there is an underlying equality between them, as if they were different notes in a harmonious symphony. Love for the work unifies them, and so does the relentless sweating, and they hold their heads up high throughout. Then the dancing begins, and they become a poem, a Greek myth, or a Phoenician tableau: they frown and smile; they express a tragedy and then dance festively in celebration; they toil, flicker, twirl, shake, all in synchronization with the music; their eyes speak, as much as their bodies, whose carefully designed movements are meticulously executed; they flow, or form sharp shapes; they stomp on the floor with anger, determination, and they roar in defiance and hope.

It is an art that raids your soul in its depths, a patently Palestinian spirit, evoking the conscious as well as the spontaneous memories. It is smooth and intense; it impresses, without draining; it attracts, never repels; and, above all, El-Funoun’s art boosts the morale and expels despair, thereby emancipating the soul from the siege of time, and leaving an imprint of hope on it instead.

How charming this persistence! How can a group made up of volunteers accomplish such a professional art? Perhaps the answer lies in the unique mix of charm and heroism: charm of contemporary innovation and heroism of rooted authenticity.

Brecht was right: a vanguard artist must always be ahead of his/her audience, but he/she must be close enough to be able to extend his/her hand to hold theirs. When an artistic work invites audiences to interact with, and be influenced by, both the artistic form -- which augments their artistic appreciation -- and the content, the message, it embodies the tragic contradiction discovered long ago in classical Greek literature: how to combine the tastes of the elite and the “masses”?

Is there a way to bypass direct preaching without diluting the progressiveness of the content? Watching “Haifa, Beirut & Beyond” indicates that it indeed can be done, even in our shackled society.

By: Ahmad Qatamish, Author and community leader

Published in :This Week in Palestine - March 2004

Back