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Waiting Forbidden is about a sense of displacement, fear and resistance – a performance about Palestinian identity. People with their own association and breach of occupation and domination – a mental labyrinth of 60 years of violence in a region where nothing is innocent anymore, where time goes by in anxious expectation of what will happen. The performance is inspired by personal stories of the dancers and the work of Mona Hatoum, a famous artist of Palestinian descent. The meaning of home in her work points to a mythical location, a place fraught with loss and violence.

Co-produced by Al Balad Theatre in Amman, El Funoun in Ramallah, Dancing on the Edge, Amsterdam and Grand Theatre, Groningen. The performance is performed in Amman, the Palestinian Territories and a tour during the Dancing on the Edge festival in the Netherlands.

The production is realized with support from Dramatiska Institutet SIDA, Dutch Embassy in Jordan, Royal Jordanian Airlines, Anna Lindh Foundation, Dutch Culture and FPK.

“Waiting Forbidden fired on all cylinders. With Dutch direction and choreography from Feri de Geus and Noortje Bijvoets, and collaboration with performers from Al Balad Theatre in Amman and El Funoun in Ramallah, it packed a political punch, laced with humour and galvanized by the rhythmic dubka pulse… Sitting, the dancers’ hands slapped it out on the boards; laying down, their legs twitched in unison and for brief wonderful moments it exploded in full-blooded dance. An inconclusive finish on a dream-wish epilogue left the solutions in the air but a clear message that Palestine may be down but not out.”
—Maggie Foyer in Dance Europe Magazine

Choreography: Noortje Bijvoets / Feri de Geus, Dancers: Noora Baker, Sharaf Dar Zaid, Lana Nasser, Alaa Samaan, Tamar Shahinian, Music composition: Edward van der Tuuk, o.a. Fairouz, Ramallah Underground, Set design: Le Grand Cru, Set realisation: Pink Steenvoorden, Khamees Husni Ahmad, Kapila Hantitty, Lightdesign: Edward van der Tuuk