concept, choreography, performance
Tarek Halaby
thanks to
Jan Ritsema, Sandra Iché, Rabia Aghrib, my uncles Jean and Samir Halaby, Dr. Mahmoud Ashour and the many other Palestinians who shared their personal experiences with me and further educated me about the history of the Palestinian situation.Lastly, a big thanks to my family and friends for their love, support, and interest in this project
production
wp Zimmer / Ilse Vandesande
poproduction
P.A.R.T.S.
duration
40’
An attempt to understand my socio-political disposition through artistic research on personal identity in relationship to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Part One
I like to think of this performance as an unfinished product, an ongoing situation just like the Palestinian situation is unresolved. Originally this piece was a dance. However, in the process of making the dance, I found myself unable to translate the text in my mind with my physical body. The process therefore became a challenge for me to figure out how to put the Palestinian situation within the context of performance. Humour became a way for me to distance myself from personal feelings in order to draw the interest of the audience and inform them at the same time. This project also became a way for me to further educate myself about the Palestinian situation in order to better understand the complexity of my own identity: an American-Palestinian born in Saudi Arabia with Jordanian/U.S. nationalities, raised in the Catholic Church speaking English and who moved to the United States at age 10. Though I feel a certain amount of distance to the land of Palestine and the Palestinian People, the fact that I feel lost and confused about my Palestinian identity is a state that many Palestinians identify themselves with. That is what it means (partially) to be Palestinian today.
Tarek Halaby