Profitraining with Sahar Damoni
About the class
In the Middle East and North African regions, lemon water with mint is consumed to cleanse the body of toxins and impurities. These Classes are an opportunity to clear the head and heart in order to dive into an exploration of our personal movement language and intuitive artistic voice. The classes combine exercises drawn from meditative, somatic, dance, and writing practices which Sahar Damoni has used to develop her choreographic work. We will use these tools to get in touch with our bodies and ourselves to develop and react to movement material. The classes are built on the importance of reciprocity between body and mind and the therapeutic power of movement. In these classes, we tap into dealing with stress and trauma in the body and gain tools to manage the physical effects of these sources in our bodies and souls.
The Classes provide participants with a safe and inclusive space for dealing with sensitive issues in a personal and exploratory way through somatic and movement-based exercises. The goal is to physically empower participants to fully feel, confront, and trust their bodies and intuition on their own healing journey for empowering the me in them and move in a free way in their own bodies in their own space and out of it in the society. It is an opportunity for introspection and personal research. Together, we will listen to the whispering of our dreams and enjoy the exploration toward reaching them.
The classes draws on Sahar Damoni’s experience as an Arab Palestinian woman. Facing mental and emotional challenges in Arab society on a daily basis, Damoni saw the need to build classes from her personal story and professional experience that can provide an outlet to the difficulties other marginalized women, nondancers, dancers, and all people endure. The classes offers emotional, physical, and practical responses that serve as tools to emphasize the strength of the individual and the support of the group.
This classes is for dancers and artists alike.
Accessibility Notes
- This class includes auditive guidance.
- This class includes slides and videos shared via a large screen.
- This classes may include a walk around the building/neighborhood.
About Sahar
Sahar Damoni is a Christian Palestinian Arab Choreographer & Dancer from Shafa-Amer near the sea in Galilee, who holds an Israeli ID. her body of work deals with the challenges she faces as a woman in Arab and Palestinian society and as a Palestinian with an Israeli ID, she confronts the status-quo on a contested piece of land in a severely complicated reality.
Sahar’s work has been presented in Palestine/Israel and internationally including Holland Dance Festival; Fabrik Potsdam Potsdamer Tanztage; Frauenkirche Church, Dresden, Germany; HANGART Festival, Italy; Movement Research Festival at the Judson Church; Dance Space Project, and La Mama, New York City; Café Belcapmo, Amsterdam; Ramallah Contemporary Dance Festival; Internationale Solo-Tanz-Theater Festival Stuttgart, Echo Dance Festival of Northern Ireland; Curtain Up, International Exposure and InitimaDance (Tel Aviv),as well as various platforms and festival in The Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, and Morocco.
She has participated in collaborations and received residences supported by New York University and Jacob’s Pillow; the Goethe Institute; PACT Zollverein; SouthEast Dance, England; Independent Dance, Siobhan Davies Studios, and Sadlers Wells, London; and the International Interdisciplinary Artists Consortium (IIAC) with support from the GPS/Global Practice Sharing program of Movement Research and Henny Jurrriëns Studio, Amsterdam.
Sahar was invited to Un/Controlled Gestures, a seminar on dance and body politic, organized by the Goethe Institute, Morocco (2019), and the Dramaturgy Online Open Forum at Onassis Stegi Cultural Center (2020). In (2021) Sahar was commissioned to create a new work for the Staatstheater Kassel.
Sahar has lectured about her work at Gibney, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, and tanzhaus NRW, among others.She has also served as an actor and dramaturg in theater projects with Théâtre des Quartiers d'Ivry and Segun Ojewuyi, Before creating her own work.
Sahar Damoni danced with the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company and received a BA in Dance and Movement for Practicing Teachers from Kibbutzim College of Education, Technology and Arts.
www.sahardamoni.com