Ramallah festival takes dancing to the streets
The latest edition of the Ramallah Contemporary Dance Festival gained international recognition through the participation of international dance troupes.
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Contemporary dance has not always been a concept associated with Ramallah. Yet the Ramallah Contemporary Dance Festival has been inching toward international recognition through a nongovernmental organization’s persistent efforts to bring together Palestinian and international dance groups.
The 13th edition of the festival — titled “Non-Traditional Spaces” — hosted 15 Palestinian and international groups, and reached 5,500 spectators through performances in Ramallah, Jerusalem, Birzeit, Anabta and Balata refugee camp, its organizers told Al-Monitor. The festival took place April 19-29.
The festival’s themes revolved around the concepts of human fragility, isolation and the confusion that stems from feeling out of place. The many dance groups that participated performed different styles of dance, including hip-hop, flamenco, belly-dancing and dabke, the traditional Middle Eastern dance in which a line of dancers jump and stomp their feet to the beat of the music.
At the festival’s opening, French dance group Dyptik’s performance — titled “Between the Shields” — combined moves from different dances, from hip-hop to dabke, in an open-air show at the Ramallah Cultural Palace.
