Floating On a Dead Sea
By Catherine Young Dance Company, Dublin Dance Festival, November 2021.
Floating on a Dead Sea. Photo credit Luca Truffarelli
Originally due to premiere at Dublin Dance Festival in 2020, this work has been long in the making. In 2017, Catherine Young took her dance company to Palestine to perform her critically acclaimed work Welcoming the Stranger. Compelled by the experience, she returned in 2019 to find a way to share this overwhelming feeling of being lifted and held by the generosity and kindness of a people, in a place where nothing is normal. A place where everyday life, dreams and aspirations are stifled, basic rights denied, and lives lived unfulfilled.
With a cast of international dancers and stunning visuals by filmmaker Luca Truffarelli, this moving performance places us in the footsteps of ordinary Palestinians, allowing us to feel their enduring sense of injustice, urgency and need for action. A chance to look and listen more deeply, especially to those whose voices are often unheard.
Director & Choreographer Catherine Young
Film Luca Truffarelli
Dramaturg Hanna Slattne
Dancers Salma Ataya, Vanessa Guevara, Amir Sabra
Musicians Martin Scharer, Jon Sanders, Jade O’Connor
Sound Design Fiona Sheil
Lx Design Sarah Jane Sheil
Production Manager Rob FureyCommissioned by Dublin Dance Festival. Co-presented by Dublin Dance Festival and the Abbey Theatre in association with Backstage Theatre. Funded by The Arts Council of Ireland | An Chomhairle Ealaíon, Backstage Theatre, Kerry County Council, Siamsa Tíre, and supported by Shawbrook Dance & Dance Limerick.
Photo credit: Luca Truffarelli