Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre Announces European Premiere & French Tour

Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre (US/Palestine) and Au Contraire Productions (France) will bring their acclaimed production Gathering to France this fall, with performances across Nouvelle-Aquitaine from October 8 through November 27, 2025.

About the Performance

At the center of the stage: a mountain of oranges and a ladder. Around it: the audience, invited to witness a Palestinian wedding that unfolds into a sweeping life story. Through flashbacks, music, and movement, Gathering follows Israa from her engagement to her later years in a besieged village.

Blending dabke, hip-hop, circus, and song with Vivaldi’s Four Seasons (recomposed by Max Richter), choreographer Samar Haddad King creates a vibrant, festive, and bittersweet dance-theatre work. The piece premiered at The Shed in New York in 2024, and now brings together artists from Palestine, Japan, Taiwan, Turkey, Denmark, the U.S., and France.

• Duration: 80 minutes

• Languages: Arabic, English, and French (with French surtitles)

• Recommended for ages 6+

Tour Schedule

• Bordeaux (TNBA / FAB Festival): Oct 8–11 (includes masterclass & Pro Day Oct 10)

• Bayonne – Anglet (Sud-Aquitaine): Oct 14 (with artist conversation)

• Brive–Tulle (L’Empreinte): Nov 14–15 (workshop & audio-described show)

• Angoulême: Nov 18

• Poitiers (TAP): Nov 20 (with workshop & shared meal Nov 19)

• Niort (Moulin du Roc): Nov 22 (with workshop Nov 24)

• La Rochelle (La Coursive): Nov 25 (with workshop Nov 26)

• Aubusson (Théâtre Jean Lurçat): Nov 27

Community Programs

Alongside the performances, YSDT will offer workshops, shared meals, and conversations tailored to local communities — from youth to older adults, non-dancers to professionals, and multilingual or refugee groups. Programs are presented in French, Arabic, and English.

Creative Team

• Concept, text, original music, direction & choreography: Samar Haddad King

• Dramaturgy: Enrico Dau Yang Wey

• Assistant Director: Stéphanie Sutherland

• Lighting: Muaz Aljubeh

• Costume & Set: Nancy Mkaabal

• Music: Max Richter’s recomposition of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons

• Performers include: Samaa Wakim, Mehdi Dahkan, Adan Azzam, Nadim Bahsoun, Charles Brécard, Dounia Dolbec, Yukari Osaka, Zoé Rabinowitz, Arzu Salman, Natalie Salsa, Yousef Sbieh, Enrico Dau Yang Wey, Ash Winkfield, and Mohammed Fouad (understudy)

About the Companies

Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre (YSDT) creates original works and education programs rooted in access, liberation, and transformation. Founded in 2005 in New York, YSDT has toured to over 20 countries and works transnationally between NYC and Palestine.

Au Contraire Productions is a France-based nonprofit producing and promoting innovative performing arts projects internationally, with a focus on humanistic and social issues.

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