Thank you so much for supporting the
We Create Festival 2024
See you next year!
Danza Orgánica presents the 11th annual:
We Create Festival 2024
Liminal Zones | Radical Visions
May 2 - 3, 2024
DIGITAL PROGRAM
6:30- House opens. Artists Market
Leena Ismail
Evan H. Kurker
Jahzara Fashion House
Sankofa Anacaona Botanicals
7PM:
ACT I
Reclamation: This is My Country, This is My Land
U-Meleni Mhlaba Adebo
"Reclamation" is a poetic short film journeying through memory, poetry, and spoken word, exploring themes of identity, loss, and connection to land and heritage. Filmed against the backdrop of Zimbabwe's Eastern Highlands, it follows the filmmaker's quest to reclaim their cultural identity and honor their parents' legacy. Through introspective narration and visuals, "Reclamation" invites viewers to witness the resilience of the human spirit and the enduring bond between individual and environment, offering a profound meditation on the power of transformation and the beauty found in embracing one's roots.
Footage by: U-Meleni Mhlaba Adebo
Victoria Falls footage by: @ilalalodgehotel762
Poetry: U-Melani Mhlaba Adebo
Cells of Illegal Education (C.I.E)
Farah Saleh
Cells of Illegal Education is a video dance installation that revisits gestures of civil disobedience carried out during the First Intifada in Occupied Palestine. More specifically it reenacts, transforms and deforms gestures exercised by Birzeit University students between 1988 and 1992 while trying to continue their education process at a time when schools and universities were closed by Israeli military rule and students and teachers who refused to abide were labeled “Cells of Illegal Education”. The illegal classes were organized in alternative spaces, such as houses, the university entrance and the university itself. The video revolves around two group pictures and a painting documenting these three situations. It attempts to recreate the students acts before, during and after the pictures were taken. Intertwining archival materials, oral testimonies and imagination this installation is a gestural reflection on the phenomenon of civil disobedience and popular resistance during the First Intifada and their echoes in our contemporary times, from romanticism to reenactment.
Cells of Illegal Education is a video dance installation that revisits gestures of civil disobedience carried out during the First Intifada in Occupied Palestine. More specifically it reenacts, transforms and deforms gestures exercised by Birzeit University students between 1988 and 1992 while trying to continue their education process at a time when schools and universities were closed by Israeli military rule and students and teachers who refused to abide were labeled “Cells of Illegal Education”. The illegal classes were organized in alternative spaces, such as houses, the university entrance and the university itself. The video revolves around two group pictures and a painting documenting these three situations. It attempts to recreate the students acts before, during and after the pictures were taken. Intertwining archival materials, oral testimonies and imagination this installation is a gestural reflection on the phenomenon of civil disobedience and popular resistance during the First Intifada and their echoes in our contemporary times, from romanticism to reenactment.
Concept and choreography: Farah Saleh
Dancers: Salma Ataya, Fayez Kawamleh, Ibrahim Feno, Maali Khaled, Hiba Harhash, Farah Saleh.
Video director: Mohanad Yaqubi
Cinematography: Sami Said
Production manager: Zina Zarour
Music: Muqata'a
Colouring: Karam Ali
Funded by: Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC)
Supported by: Sareyyet Ramallah and A.M Qattan Foundation.
Origin Story
Mica Rose
Origin Story is a choreopoem reminding us the interconnectedness of our liberation. In ode to June Jordan, Bai Bibyaon Ligkayan Bigkay, Lily Mengesha, and Joy James.
Dance film: Mica Rose
Poetry: Mica Rose
إل جذورنا ْهام Rooted Revelations
Feda Eid
Feda Eid
Rooted Revelations reflects on household objects, foods and sensory practices seen as portals
for passing on ancestral or intuitive knowledge. These everyday, nostalgic objects and cultural
traditions reveal themselves as reminders that we may access Home anywhere we are. Beyond
that, access to Spirit, the Divine, and what is deeply rooted beyond colonial and imperial
borders. Honoring those that watch over us, both seen and unseen, and continuing to stand tall
in strength, defiance and resistance- past, present, and future.
Video projection, installation & performance.
Videography by Feda Eid, Anthony Tran, Carolina Porras Monroy
Editing Feda Eid, Anthony Tran
Music in order of appearance: Al Salam by Superposition & Rotana, Arab by Rami Hussein
Poetry: Mahmoud Darwish, On This Land
Oliberte
I Will Die for You
Asa Peters & Elijah Pineda
Oliberte, written by Asa Peters
I Will Die for You, written by Asa Peters and Elijah Pineda
Intermission: Artists Market
ACT II
Taking the Sky by Storm
Raisa
"This poetry is a protest against our oppressors, inspired by my family living, resisting, and rising under genocide and in exile.
Poetry: Raisa
Free in Our Lifetime
Juliet Orchid
In Free in our Lifetime, Juliet offers two original songs: Free in our Lifetime, and Soul of my Soul. Soul of my Soul honors the life of Reem, granddaughter of of Khaled Nabhan, whose final goodbye kiss on Reem's eyes, and his declaration that she was "the soul of my soul", has moved so many.
Original songs by: Juliet Orchid
Bandera
Jorge Arce
Members of the 1970's NYC band "La Protesta", a cooperative ensemble with social content in their repertoire, dedicated this song to an icon of our Puerto Rican struggle for independence: Don Pedro Albizu Campos.
Composed by: Nestor Sánchez
Band DIrector: Pete Rodriguez
Vessel (excerpt)
Danza Orgánica
Commissioned by the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 2018, Vessel is a dance theater piece that reflects on the Transatlantic Slave Trade (Middle Passage) from the African continent to the Caribbean. The work uses the Middle Passage as a point of departure to explore and question colonial narratives, and bring forth a radical vision of resistance and liberation for the Puerto Rican people who have been under forced colonial occupation since 1493.
Originally of 30 minutes, DO will be performing an excerpt of this work.
Concept and Artistic Direction: Mar Parrilla
Choreography: Mar Parrilla, Marcel Santiago Marcelino, and DO Members
Dancers: Claudia Varela, Fran de Paula, Mar Parrilla, Marcel Santiago Marcelino
Live Music: Jorge Arce
Musical Direction: Jorge Arce, Marcel Santiago Marcelino, Mar Parrilla
Costumes: Mar Parrilla
Dabke
Boston Dabke Dance Troupe
Boston Dabke Troupe (BDT) is a community-driven movement that champions cultural identity and resistance through the traditional Arab folk dance, dabke. Established in Boston, BDT leverages the powerful art form of dabke to promote social justice and solidarity within the Arab and particularly Palestinian diaspora. Through performances, workshops, and collaborations, we at BDT, strive to honor our heritage and foster community bonds, celebrating almost a decade of social engagement, cultural education, and mutual aid.
Credit: Saleh Abbas
Stick around post performances for Dabke dance workshop and mini dance party with Boston Dabke Dance Troupe!
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Performing Artists Bios:
Raisa
Raisa is a dancer, dance teacher, organizer and poet, based in the Boston area. She draws her inspiration form her family in Palestine and the resistance and sumud and joy of her people.
Feda Eid
Feda Eid is a multidisciplinary artist who's roots come from the lands of the Levant/Bilad Al Sham region in South West Asia and currently resides in the occupied lands of Wampanoag, Nipmuc, and Massachusett People- so called Quincy,MA. Her work explores the expression of tradition and identity, in the often tense but beautiful space between, what is said, what is felt, and and what is lost in translation. She captures these emotions through her bold use of color, textiles, adornment and pop culture linking the past and present. Feda is guided by her family's journey, her childhood growing up as an Arab and Muslim post 9/11, and the colonial borders imposed on her ancestors in Bilad Al Sham.
Mica Rose
Mica rose is a gemini gust of slumber-party who trains in ancestral medicine. Their teachers include lola Nellie & Laguna, manong Wayne & pangalay, Márquez Rhyne & story circles, and taiko with sensei Karen Young. Chosen and blood families shape mica's commitment to international solidarity. Through freelancing and studying in Boston since 2017, they been organizing with masses here and in the Philippines for land, water, and self-determination. Currently a co-director at Arts Connect International, they resource artists towards collective action. Instagram: @micaxrose
Asa Peters
Asa Peters is a musician, developing educator, and researcher. He specializes in playing the saxophone, hip-hop production, and playing and composing music for dance. Asa is a member of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe with familial roots in the Narragansett Tribe as well. He currently lives in Boston, working at UMass Boston as staff in two ethnic studies programs/institutes.
Jorge Arce
Jorge Arce, M.Ed. 1995, Harvard University; Boston Conservatory of Music (musical-theater),1985, doctoral-candidate and showcased-artist. Born: Puerto Rico. Actor, singer, composer, dancer, choreographer, graphic artist, and educator. Member: Raíz de Plena (Puerto Rico and Boston), founder and director; Haciendo Punto en Otro Son (Puerto Rico, 1978-1983); Humano (Boston Music Awards 1991), founder and director; (Atabal (Puerto Rico, 1979-1983), Bombazo Boricua: Puerto Rican Bomba Dance Troupe (Founder and Director,2013-Present), Esto es Puerto Rico: The Musical (Director, 2019-Present). Recording productions: “Jorge Arce Compilation / Compilación 1991-2013” (Pandora, YouTube, Spotify, CD Baby); 10 Lps-Cds with Haciendo Punto and Atabal (2013 (Pandora, YouTube, Spotify, CD Baby). Founded Humano Multicultural Project (1987). His show The Afro-Caribbean Workshop shares cultural values. Locally and abroad recognitions. Among many awards: 2013-Present Boston City Council Recognitions for Commitment in Building a Better Boston, African Diaspora Arts & Culture Award 2013 for outstanding achievement in preserving diverse cultural arts forms reflective of African People in the Diaspora Presented by ABDM, Inc, The Jorge Hernández Leadership Award 2013, excellence in expression culture arts, history and pride of Latinos and Latin American Diaspora presented by IBA, Inc., 2014 Community Catalyst Award, contributions to art and culture in Roxbury and Greater Boston by Hibernian Hall and Madison Park Project, 2017 National Hispanic Heritage Month Award by Massachusetts Department of Transportation and Mass-Port, 2012 Traditional Arts Fellowship Finalist by Massachusetts Cultural Council, Brother Thomas Fellowship awarded by Boston Foundation 2019. 2020 Excellency Award and Recognition (including City’s Official Key and Banner) by the City of Ponce, PR. 2022 Lucía Mayerson-David LIFE TIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD by TAG Educational Association, Inc., Dec 3, 2023 Official Recognition for Cultural Contribution in the Diaspora by City of Ponce, PR.
Farah Saleh
Farah Saleh is a Palestinian dancer, choreographer and scholar based in Scotland. She has studied linguistic and cultural mediation in Italy and in parallel continued her studies in contemporary dance. Since 2010 she took part in local and international projects with Sareyyet Ramallah Dance Company (Palestine), the Royal Flemish Theatre and Les Ballets C de la B (Belgium), Mancopy Dance Company (Denmark/Lebanon), Siljehom/Christophersen (Norway) and Candoco Dance Company (UK). Saleh has also been teaching dance, coordinating and curating artistic projects, including the Sareyyet Ramallah Summer Dance School, which she co-founded in 2016. In 2014 she won the third prize of the Young Artist of the Year Award (YAYA) organized by A.M. Qattan Foundation in Palestine for her installation A Fidayee Son in Moscow and in 2016 she won the dance prize of Palest’In and Out Festival in Paris for the duet La Même. She was an Associate Artist at Dance Base in Edinburgh 2017-2021 and in 2023 she earned her practice-based PhD from Edinburgh College of Art. In 2024, Saleh started a lectureship in Global Majority Performance at Theatre Studies Department at Glasgow University.
Juliet Orchid
Juliet (she/her) is a queer, interdisciplinary healer-artist of Palestinian descent. Juliet works as a song and theatre maker, chef, reiki practitioner, and educator. A graduate of Emerson College, she has worked with Rites of Passage, Earthdance, Bread and Puppet Theatre, B.A.W.D; Boston Arm Wrestling Dames, and on The Voyeuges film series. Juliet is currently writing and singing with a band called Indescribable Pleasure in Boston. Juliet believes bringing pleasure and creativity to a larger movement for justice and liberation, strengthens the movement and our community.
Danza Orgánica
Danza Orgánica is a Boston based dance theater company whose work is centered around equity, social justice, and decolonization. With dancers from Borikén (so-called Puerto Rico), Mexico, Dominican Republic, and Spain- we honor our right to express our BIPOC experience, joyfully reimagine ourselves in liberated BIPOC bodies, and leave a legacy that sheds light upon an untold side of history.
To learn more about our work, feel free to browse our website!
U-Meleni Mhlaba Adebo
U-Meleni Mhlaba-Adebo, a Zimbabwean- American artist and poetic force with a transnational lens. Boston and Africa-based, she's a storyteller, educator, and board member of Mass Poetry. Her debut poetry collection, "Soul Psalms," received accolades from Dr Thema Bryant, APA President for its’ therapeutic mastery.She recently was awarded the 2023 prestigious Brother Thomas Fellowship and also honored with a Certificate of Recognition from Boston’s Mayor Wu for her artistry which fosters inclusivity and equity.She has also been featured on World Channel and GBH's "Stories from the Stage."Most recently her work has also been featured in groundbreaking literary works such as in Chapter four of Linda Villarosa's "Under the Skin," a compelling exploration of racial disparities in healthcare, and Stephanie Raffelock's "Art in the Time of Unbearable Crisis: Women Respond," which raises funds for women and children in Ukraine. U-Meleni is also an avid Marathoner raising funds for cancer research,mental health and activism (www.u-meleni.com)
Boston Dabke Dance Troupe
Boston Dabke Troupe (BDT) is a group of students and young professionals dedicated to learning, teaching, and performing Dabke. BDT is a community-driven movement that champions cultural identity and resistance through the traditional Arab folk dance, dabke. Established in Boston, BDT leverages the powerful art form of dabke to promote social justice and solidarity within the Arab and particularly Palestinian diaspora. Through performances, workshops, and collaborations, we at BDT, strive to honor our heritage and foster community bonds, celebrating almost a decade of social engagement, cultural education, and mutual aid.
Vending Artists Bios:
Leena Ismail
Leena is a Palestinian mother, architect, and ceramic artist. She received her masters of architecture from the Boston Architectural College, where she earned the Masters Thesis Award for her project based near the Qalandia Checkpoint in the occupied West Bank. During the day, Leena works at a BIPOC owned architectural firm designing and overseeing the construction of multi-family affordable housing in Boston. In her spare time, she makes wheel-thrown, functional ceramics in a nearby community studio inspired by her background in architecture.
Evan H. Kurker
"He is a Jack of many trades, and has mastered many. Evan brings motorcycles back to life, and on his spare time designs, fabricates, and creates." Rami.
Jahzara Fashion House
Jahzara is a multi-talented artist based out of Boston. She has been putting her design skill to use since her first introduction to sewing in middle school from her mother, a master seamstress out of Haiti.
Unable to afford the fashion program she was attending after the first year, Jahzara switched to graphic design at a community college. Still passionate about fashion she joined all her design skills and chose to share them with the world in 97-98. Forming Jahzara Design Studio where she offered her web, graphic and fashion design services. In 2013 Jahzara Fashion House was born in order to focus solely on the fashion brand.
Sankofa Anacaona Botanicals
Taína Vargas-Sosa is a mother, artist, educator, urban gardener, herbalist in training and budding forager. She is the founder of Sankofa Anacaona Botanicals, a traveling apothecary centered around deep respect for plant medicine
and commitment to holistic plant-based healing. Taína's Afro-Indigenous Caribbean lineage is rooted in Ayiti-Kiskeya (Dominican Republic).
She is currently based in Boston, MA.