
6, 7.05
In relation to whom? مرتاحة؟
Marah Haj Hussein & Nur Garabli
This project gathers Marah Haj and Nur Garabli, two Palestinian artists. Marah grew up in Kofor Yassif (PS) and is currently based in Antwerp (BE) and Nur was born in Ajami, in Jaffa (PS) where she still resides. In a context of continuous dislocation, they seek connection through working together for the first time. Bearing the common realities of Occupied Palestine in their bodies, yet carrying them differently, they ask what can such a body encounter reveal?
As dance makers, they look into the internalized violence they carry from having studied movement techniques infiltrated by militarization and thus, in response, activate ways of moving through rewriting a language in their own terms. They intersect lines in a non-linear way, resist to solidified meanings of the past as well as a ready-made future, and propose to embody more intimate transmission from their mothers and grandmothers.
This creation is a journey of how their experiences collide. It is an archeological process
where they dig into the body as a living and transformative matter anchored in the
present. It is a meeting of contradictions and vulnerabilities, humor and tension. An
attempt of reshaping the mind by befriending the body in liberating and transformative ways.
Marah Haj Hussein (1998) is a dancer, actress and maker from Kofor Yassif in Occupied Palestine, based in Antwerp. She graduated with a BA in Dance from the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp and completed her Masters in Drama at KASK in Ghent. After her first work interested by the power dynamics between spoken languages in colonial contexts, she pursues her research focusing on colonial body languages and their imposing power. In 2025 she has won the sector prize for the “Most Acclaimed performance for -35” for her piece Language: no broblem after she has won in 2023 the Roel Verniers Prize by Het Theaterfestival for the same piece.
Nur Garabli (1996) is a choreographer and dancer from Yaffa in Occupied Palestine. Nur holds a BA in Dance and Education from the School of Dance Arts, Tel Aviv. She grew up in a multigenerational household with her mother, twin sister, and grandmother. Her work mixes between Palestinian folklore and contemporary techniques, where tradition transforms into a living and evolving movement. It explores memory as a site of resistance and continuity. Nur co-curated Moving Together (2022 & 2023), a festival gathering women through dance and shared heritage.
On tour
-
Point Communs (FR)
20.03.26
Point Communs (FR)
21.03.26
Royaumont (FR)
29.03.26
La Vilette (FR)
09.04.26
La Vilette (FR)
10.04.26
KAAP, Brugge (BE)
09.05.26
Campo, Gent (BE)
12.05.26
Campo, Gent (BE)
13.05.26
MC93, Bobigny (FR)
10.10.26
MC93, Bobigny (FR)
11.10.26
Concept and performance Marah Haj Hussein & Nur Garabli Dramaturgy and artistic collaboration Krystel Khoury Light design Pôl Seif Scenography Agnese Forlani Music composition and execution Verena Rizzo Sound engineer Korin Rizzo Costume Smila Zinecker Direction of production Ehren Verrelst Production Monty coproduction Kunstencentrum BUDA | Saraya Theater | Theater Rotterdam | Points communs, Nouvelle scène nationale Cergy-Pontoise / Val-d’Oise | Fondation Royaumont | EPPGHV La Villette | Centre national de la danse (CND) | De Singel | La Briqueterie CDCN | Les Halles de Schaerbeek | Frascati Producties | Maillon, Théâtre de Strasbourg With the support of the Flemish Government With many thanks to Rabeah Morkus Dance Studio – Kofor Yasif I The Work Room – Glasgow I Battersea Arts Centre – London I KAAP – Bruges I Hana Dance House – Haifa and all the persons that supported us all along