Dabke… as identity in movement
A dance that carries an entire homeland in its step, the voices of ancestors in its rhythm, and the pain of absence in the pulse of the foot.
19.12.25
19.12.25
15:00 - 17:00
Thoravej 29, København NV
Participation in the event is FREE, but please reserve a ticket as seats are limited. You can book your ticket here:
The artistic research
In the folk dance group Olivengrenen, they don't just dance dabke – they summon it, like a root longing for its first soil. Through their research, they unfold dabke as a living space for identity, where bodies carry stories of roots, loss, longing, and homecoming. They work with questions such as: How can a row of shoulders become a map? And how can a step regain what was taken from it?
During the residency, dabke is explored as both a practice and as bodily memory. The dance is understood as an archive that stores stories, migrations, and rituals in motion. And the body is explored as a carrier of memory and the diaspora's relationship to the homeland: Can rhythm be a bridge between here and there? Can a shared pulse create a place that feels like home – even far from the country?
The work incorporates research into Palestinian cultural heritage, social dance, ritual theory, and movement anthropology. It experiments with voice, breath, rhythm, ground contact, and formation – especially the iconic row of linked hands and shoulders, where community becomes physical.
The research is not a finished performance, but a journey through identity, memory, and longing, where dabke becomes a wandering home without borders.
The artists
Olivengrenen is a Palestinian dabke group based in Denmark. The group works with cultural heritage as a living practice and explore how dance can create space for identity, community, and memory in the diaspora. Dancers with different histories and backgrounds come together in a single rhythm that builds a bridge between their roots there and their lives here.
The dancers in Olivengrenen are bodies with many stories, coming together in one rhythm – like the heartbeat of Palestine. They contribute personal experiences of migration, heritage, community, and cultural memory.
Credits:
Concept and research: Olivengrenen
Artistic director: Yussef Assi
Dancers: Members of the group
Music: Rhythms from the homeland – reborn in the diaspora
The residency
IN PROCESS is HAUTs 1-2 week long residency format that makes space for physical brainstorms supporting the investigation and the development of new ideas for the stage.
This group of artists have been invited into residency by a directs invite from HAUT's artistic leader Alex Blum.