In relation to whom? مرتاحة؟

Based in Antwerp, Hussein grew up in Kofor Yassif, an Arab village in the north of Israel. Garabli was born and raised in Ajami, a cosmopolitan area of Jaffa. For their first collaborative project, they sought to embody and confront, through their personal experiences, the realities of occupied Palestine. As the local and international political context widens the rifts in this territory with each passing day, the two artists transform their encounter and the bonds they have forged into a fertile space for creation. For both artists, the implicit violence of their dance training – its quasi-military vocabulary, its imposed Western techniques – has fueled a desire for emancipation, which lies at the root of their artistic journeys. These journeys are characterized by an original choreographic language that intimately incorporates the emotional and physical legacy that was passed down by their mothers and grandmothers. The piece they perform thus explores how, within each body, the various experiences they have lived through collide with one another. Delving, like an archaeological process, into these sensory imprints, the piece fuses their contradictions and vulnerabilities and transforms them into a living substance, rooted in the present. Balancing humor and tension, it marks a decisive step on their paths toward emancipation and reconciliation – both with themselves and with their history.

Marah Haj Hussein

Marah Haj Hussein 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

Nur Garabli 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.