Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre

Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre (YSDT) will share their work Shabaab (meaning “youth” in Arabic), a full-length performance by Samar Haddad King celebrating the intimacy, beauty, and tenderness of Arab male friendship. In a land where shared dreams and struggles are often overshadowed by the structural obstacles and systemic violence of occupation, the strength and sweetness of their bond is what helps these boys grow into men. YSDT believes that art is liberating, transformative, and accessible to all. “…an uncommonly deft combination of dance and verbal theater”—Brian Seibert, The New York Times

In this duet, they traverse a lifetime of friendship between Mohamed and Mahmoud, whose story unfolds in a space where memory and reality intertwine. Their live-action present is refracted through a pair of puppets, designed by Sipho Ngxola, who represent the two men as children, as dreams of themselves, as the selves they could have been under different circumstances. Performed in Arabic with English/French subtitles, the story moves between the external world of the present and the internal world of dream, emotion, and memory where alternative lives and futures are still possible. The addition of a playful and explosive movement score, and featuring compositions on guitar by Hisham Abu Jabal and sound designed by Samar Haddad King, shabaab is a visceral embodiment of love, friendship, and the impossible weight of a lifetime spent under siege.

Tickets: $30 general public | $20 Middlebury ID holders/PASS Members | $10 youth (under 21) | $5 Middlebury students. General admission. Tickets on sale in September: http://go.middlebury.edu/tickets

Approximate running time: 65 minutes, no intermission

About the Artists:
Learn more about Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre: https://ysdt.org/

Samar Haddad King (Artistic/Founding Director of YSDT) graduated from the Ailey/Fordham BFA program under the tutelage of Kazuko Hirabayashi. Her work has been performed in 21 countries on five continents, with commissions throughout the U.S. and abroad including Hong Kong Arts Festival (Hong Kong), Hubbard Street 2 (Chicago), Ramallah Contemporary Dance Festival (Ramallah), The Walk/St. Ann’s Warehouse (New York), Good Chance Theatre (Marseille), and The Herds (Paris). Awards and fellowships include the Prix des Jeunes Créateurs Palestiniens pour la Diversité des Expressions Artistiques (Palest’In & Out Festival, Paris), La Fabrique Chaillot Residency (Chaillot – Théâtre national de la Danse, Paris), The Center for Ballet and the Arts at NYU, and Toulmin Creator (CBA/National Sawdust, NYC). Samar is a 2023 Creative Capital Wild Futures: Art, Culture, Impact awardee for her new multidisciplinary project Radio Act. 

Mohammad “Barges” Smahneh (Performer/Collaborator) is a self-taught hip-hop and contemporary dance artist and has won various break-dance battles in Palestine. Mohammad has performed in many international and local projects including: Badke, a co-production between KVS, les ballets C de la B & A.M. Qattan Foundation (2013–16, Belgium); B choreographed by Koen Augustijnen and Rosalba Torres (2017–2019, Belgium); Nomads Dance Camp directed by Dina Abu Hamdan with choreographers Jorge Crecis, Taoufiq Izzediou, and Samar Haddad King (2014, Jordan); and Naji Ali with Botega Dance Company directed by Enzo Celli (2009, Italy); and was a champion in Floor Wars Battle (2012, Denmark). Mohammad has been a puppeteer for The Walk with Little Amal since 2022, and a member of YSDT since 2013. 

Yousef Aref Sbieh (Performer/Collaborator) is a dancer and performer from Jerusalem, Palestine. He grew up in Silwan, a neighborhood near the Old City. Sbieh earned a BA in Marketing & Business from Birzeit University (2015) while training as a Community Dance Trainer with the Austrian non-profit Yantè. During this time, he collaborated with schools in the West Bank, integrating physical learning and non-violent communication for young students and people with disabilities. Since 2016, Sbieh has worked as a freelance dancer, performing in projects with choreographers such as Omar Rajeh, Samar Haddad King (Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre), Hooman Sharifi, and Khaled Barghouthi. He also worked with Sareyyet Ramallah and the Ramallah Contemporary Dance Festival. In 2017, he moved to Norway after receiving an apprenticeship with Carte Blanche, the Norwegian national company of contemporary dance, with whom he performed in productions across Norway, the Netherlands, and Germany.

Enrico Dau Yang Wey (Dramaturgy and Puppet Direction), from Taiwan, has presented work through Danspace Project, DTW (US), Conde Duque, CA2M (ES), Perdu (NL) and LMCC’s River to River Festival (US). They are a long standing member of Handspring Puppet Company as cast in William Kentridge’s Il Ritorno d’Ulisse and in War Horse on Broadway. They were Resident Puppetry Director for the German production of War Horse. Wey is current Associate Artistic Director/ Puppetry Director for all productions with The Walk with Little Amal and Associate PD for Faustus in Africa. Other notable roles include Shulea Cheang’s 3x3x6 (2019 Venice Biennale Taiwan Pavilion), Dennis Cooper/Zac Farley’s feature film Like Cattle Towards Glow, and onstage for Robyn Orlin, Big Dance Theater, Ishmael Houston-Jones, Aitana Cordero, and Rob Icke.

Sipho Ngxola (Puppet Design and Construction) is a South African puppet designer, director, and multidisciplinary artist from Cape Town. At 33, he has established himself as one of the leading creative voices in contemporary African puppetry, known for merging traditional storytelling, craftsmanship, and performance with bold, socially conscious narratives. He is the co-founder of Ukwanda Puppet and Designs Art Collective (Ukwanda Puppet Company), where he serves as designer, maker, and puppet director. His work with Ukwanda has been celebrated locally and internationally for its innovation, cultural depth, and emotional power. Sipho began his professional journey as an intern at the Handspring Puppet Company (2013–2015), the internationally renowned creators behind War Horse. During this time, he co-created and performed in the award-winning production Qhawe, which toured across South Africa, including at the National Arts Festival in Makhanda. In 2018, he honed his craft at the Curious School of Puppetry in London and later designed puppets for In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre, performing at the MayDay Festival in Minnesota. With Ukwanda, he co-created the acclaimed Warona, which toured nationally and received multiple awards, and later collaborated with Fak’ugesi Digital Africa on Lonely Sailor Weather Report (2021). He is currently an Artist-in-Residence at the Centre for Humanities Research, University of the Western Cape, where he continues to explore identity, community, and the human condition through visual theatre.

Hisham Abu Jabal (Original music) is a classical guitarist and composer who studied at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, where he trained in a rigorous program of performance, theory, and chamber music under leading classical guitar pedagogues. As a performer and composer, he has toured nationally and internationally with Palestinian ensembles including TURAB and Darbet Shams, developing a distinctive voice that integrates classical guitar technique with Arabic musical traditions. He has composed for theatre, dance and film, including Al-Hakawati (Palestinian National Theatre) and Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre, collaborating closely with choreographer Samar Haddad King to create soundscapes that fuse classical guitar with traditional and contemporary forms. 

Muaz Aljubeh (Lighting Designer) is a Palestinian lighting designer based in Jerusalem who has been working in the field since 1995. He was the technical director for Al-Kasaba Theatre and Cinematheque (Ramallah, Palestine) for almost 20 years, and has been the technical director for the Ramallah Contemporary Dance Festival since its founding in 2006. He is technical director internationally for The Walk with Little Amal and The Herds (The Walk Productions). Muaz has created light for more than 30 local productions, which have toured nationally and internationally. His work has been seen in notable theatres and festivals such as Tokyo Art International Festival (Japan), Carthage Theatrical Days Festival (Tunisia), Young Vic Theatre (United Kingdom), The Avignon Festival (France), Adelaide Festival, and the Institut De La Monde Arabe (France). He is currently touring Taha, Houta, Gathering, and Milk. 

Shnsho Muhanad (Set Designer) is a Syrian architect, engineer, and designer with a BA in Architecture from Damascus University, currently based in Marseille. He is the co-founder and Technical Lead of UV LAB, where he develops and manages site-specific sculptures, public art installations, and architectural scenography using natural and upcycled materials. He also collaborates with AMA Group on large-scale modular architectural installations across multiple countries. Multicultural and multilingual, he works across Europe, the Middle East, and South Asia, leading multidisciplinary design processes and on-site technical operations. Alongside his design practice, he is a DJ and music producer, among the first Syrian artists to engage with Psychedelic Trance, performing at international festivals and contributing to the growth of the regional scene. 

Program:
Shabaab
Concept, Text, and Direction: Samar Haddad King
Choreography: Samar Haddad King, in collaboration with Yousef Sbieh and Mohammad Smahneh
Live Performance: Yousef Sbieh and Mohammad Smahneh
Voiceover actors: tbd
Original music: Hisham Abu Jabal
Sound Design: Samar Haddad King
Puppet Design and Construction: Sipho Ngxola
Dramaturgy and Puppet Direction: Enrico Dau Yang Wey 
Production Assistant: Haidi Ahmad
Lighting Designer: Muaz Al Jubeh
Set Designer: Shnsho Muhanad
Creative Producer: Zoe Rabinowitz
Representation: Lamia Zanna/Sens Interdits
Production Manager: Frances Caperchi
Produced by: Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre & Sens Interdits
Co-Produced by: Scènes du Grütli, La Bâtie – Geneva Festival, Les Subs, Sens Interdits

Sponsored by the Performing Arts Series, the Dance Department, and the Rothrock Family Residency Fund.

Learn more about the artists:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ysdt.org
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yaasamardancetheatre/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@yaasamardancetheatre
Watch a video:  https://youtu.be/MFr3tFN68uQ?si=psIYGVLJtCLNFRnp

Performance subject to change.