In Beit-Jala (close to Betlehem) with Al-Harah dance theatre

My baptism

I was picked up by the group member George.
We went to eat with other two of the workshop participants and Emily a volunteer from Marseille.
The two girls names are both Mirna. So they called themselves Mirsagh and Mirho – putting from name and surname one syllabi one after the other. As they saw that my first syllabi is as well „Mir“ they gave me the name „Mirsu“ following the same concept as with their names.
Now the whole workshop crew calls me now Mirsu. – That’s my Palestinian name J

First day

The participants of the workshop are all between 20 and 28 years old. They are part of the Al-Harah theatre. Al-Harah theatre I met the first time in 2004, when I went the first time in the West Bank.
At that time they were called „Inad-theatre“.
Now Al-Harah theatre becomes a big institution with many different groups who are trained with theatre and dance. This institution is very important for the people here. On one side they entertain the people with theatre pieces and on the other hand they have an important social function. For example when the wall was built in this area they went into school classes and held workshops for the children to help them to integrate in the new live situation.

The participants are all actors who have special abilities for dance.
All of them can dance the Palestinian national dance called Dabka.
And the other thing they dance is Hip Hop and Street dance.

We work on a stone floor. For me it’s really hard because I’m used of professional dance floors and warm rooms…but here, there’s no heating and the floor is very cold. The students don’t care. They feel so much to move and they are used to improvise and to work with the room situation they have.

They have a lot of energy and I need more force to keep them concentrated.
While in Switzerland I have all the time to say to my students to come forward towards the mirror, I have here to be aware to keep my place in the front!!! J
They have an incredible energy and they are hungry to learn.
As well for the first time in my live I have more men than women in the dance class!

The first part of the lesson was very physical with an introduction in floor work and basic steps of the oriental folklore. To get the oriental steps is very easy for them and as well they all are very rhythmic.

In the afternoon we start to work with the main theme earth.
The Palestinian people are losing their land, their earth. So I want to work with them with this element. I don’t know yet what will be exactly my goal but I let inspire me during the lesson and of what the dancers are doing.

First of all each of them had to find 3 different ways to go on the floor.
We inspired it with an imagination of a magnet which you can imagine in a part of your body and it takes you down to the floor.

Then we went across the room one by one and they had during their walk to go down the prepared three times on the floor. I put some Taksim music that they take really their time to rehearse the movement.
I observed everybody and gave some advice.
It was wonderful to see everybody moving and talking with his own personality.

Then I we went three by three with the same exercise.  We imagined us that this could be a beginning of a dance piece and each one of them had to put an proper personality inside the movement.  After each group we discussed what we observed.
There were very nice moments!
At last I changed the music. And they didn’t know what music I will choose.
Basically I changed dynamic into very energetic and happy music to see what they will do with the movement study they did before.

It’s very hard to describe all I saw and my English to bad…I tried to film a little bit but I preferred to watch and to be completely concentrated. I just can say we had a lot of fun and laughed a lot.
It was beautiful to see the people moving and telling me stories through their bodies. It’s just wonderful to watch. All I can say I love my profession.
I had all the time just two words in my head who can describe what I saw: pure Live!