Since the successful festival in December 2009 where we presented 60 performances in 5 Dutch cities, the Dancing on the Edge organization has been busy with a number of projects. These include training, symposiums, research and artistic residencies partly funded by both the European Commission and the Anna Lindh Foundation.
For the residency call click here

The next festival is planned for December 2011. A call for entries will be publicized in the fall, but interested artists can contact us about their pieces.

A number of activities are planned for the fall/winter of 2010/11 . Details will be posted soon.

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Debates



ROTTERDAM

Media, Journalism and the Performing Arts
Friday December 4 / 14:00-16:30 / Rotterdam -  De Unie / Free entrance
Inspired by the production ‘The Assassination of Omar Rajeh’, there will be a discussion between the choreographer, several specialists and journalism students about the role of performing arts and the media in society. The production focuses on the assassination of journalists in Lebanon and thus on the significance of the written word in Arab society and the dangers of expressing dissenting opinions. Issues addressed by Omar Rajeh in this production include: How do you relate as an artist to violence in society? Is it your task to raise social issues in productions and if so, is this useful?
In a panel discussion, organised in collaboration with Kosmopolis Rotterdam, the panel members will talk about art and engagement, and freedom of expression in the Middle East and in the Netherlands. Are the performing arts sometimes a better or easier platform for airing criticism, a dissenting opinion or a more subtle story than the written press and/or other media? Students of journalism, in particular, are invited to this discussion, but it is open to everyone.

Presentation of Join – December edition
During the afternoon, there will also be a presentation of the December edition of Join. Join is the free student magazine about distant countries, culture and the world. Join December is packed with stories about special places and meetings, reports, interviews and background information on Jordan and the rest of the world. It includes an investigation into lingerie under the burka, a report on the Jordanian women’s boxing team, jokes by Israeli cabaret artists about the Palestinian-Jewish conflict, a report on a first driving lesson in Jordan, an interview with Minister Koenders, and Jelle Brandt Corstius’ eighth wonder of the world.
Join is created by a rotating editing team of journalism students and it is issued four times a year. The eighth edition of Join has been written by journalism students from INHolland Select Studies, in Rotterdam, who travelled to Jordan with the Beyond (y)our World programme. The students’ experiences have been compiled in Join. Also see: www.beyondyourworld.nl.

Debate The (Br)Other Identity
Sunday December 13 / 16:00 / Rotterdam – De Unie / Free entrance
After the performance of In Spitting Distance – a personal analysis and monologue by playwright and actor Taher Najib about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, a discussion will take place about the influence of oppression on identity-forming and how it relates to the identification and involvement of Rotterdam youth with the situation in the Middle East. Organized by Confetti, the young editors of the Rotterdam Arts and Culture Council. Booking information via www.rrkc.nl

UTRECHT

WomenSpeak! Artistic Expression and Representation of Women in the Middle East
Tuesday December 8 / 21:00 / Utrecht- Theatercafé Zindering (Stadsschouwburg Utrecht) / Free entrance
A debate in the series WomenSpeak! with the director and actresses of Unspoken Thoughts (Egypt) and with the choreographer/dancer Karima Mansour of Nomadness (Egypt) about their work and the image of women in their own countries and in the West. Both productions play with stereotypes and expectations, and in them the creators make their own voices heard. The moderator is Nancy Jouwe, program director of Kosmopolis Utrecht.
WomenSpeak! is a project by Basis voor Actuele Kunst (Utrecht), the Graduate Gender Programme and the Centre for Humanities from Utrecht University, Kosmopolis Utrecht and TUMULT. Partners are Women Inc. and Lover. Also see: www.womenspeak.nl.

Dance, Music and Religion
Sunday December 13 / 13.30-14.30 / Utrecht – RASA / Free entrance
Throughout various periods of history, dance and music have often had differing relationships to religion – and the same applies today. Sometimes, they are used as a vehicle for getting closer to God, but sometimes they are labelled as blasphemous. In this debate, three experts enter into a discussion that focuses on both tradition and new developments, and on the situation in the Middle East and in the Netherlands.

The moderator is Tarik Yousif. The speakers are:
- Karin van Nieuwkerk – cultural anthropologist and head of the ‘Islam and the Performing Arts’ research team at Nijmegen University
- Miriam Gazzah – postgraduate researcher at the University of Amsterdam into European Muslim youngsters and new forms of (Islamic) youth culture.
- Shura Lipovsky – specialist in Jewish music and dance traditions

The debate is organised in collaboration with Kosmopolis Utrecht and TUMULT, and will take place prior to the performance by the Nourredine Khourshid Ensemble & The whirling dervishes of Damascus.