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34 Years of Dance & Beyond | Articles | Community Work | Contact Us | Support El-Funoun |
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Marj Ibin ‘Amer 1989
This work was a turning point in El-Funoun’s artistic experience where El-Funoun
challenged preexisting notions about how Palestinian dance should be. From the
specially designed colorful costumes, to the not-so-familiar choreography that
derived from folkloric Palestinian dance, while merging some touches of
international contemporary dance forms, to the sound and light effects, El-Funoun
broke new grounds and set new standards in Palestinian popular dance. Music was
composed especially for this work on lyrics which were also uniquely written for
it.
Marj Ibn Amer was created in mostly clandestine dance sessions during the first
two years of the Palestinian Intifada, facing not only the obvious repressive
measures of the occupation where many members were imprisoned, but also internal
criticism by some Palestinian intellectuals, who believed that cultural
expression during the Intifada should exclude music and dance, except for the
very overtly political works. El-Funoun insisted that its artistic work not only
isn’t contradictory with any form of struggle, but also compliments those other
forms by addressing cultural/intellectual dimensions of the struggle that must
not be ignored or shelved.
Script and lyrics: Waseem Al-Kurddi “El-Funoun”
Music: Suhail Khoury “El-Funoun”
Choreography: Mohammad Ata, Lana Abu-Hijleh, Khaled Qatamesh, Suhail Khoury,
Serene Huleileh, Huda Odeh and Ekram Qura’an
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