Break Us Free
Cast:
- Concept: Rana Madanat
- Producer: Studio 8, Rana Madanat
- Choreography: Rana Madanat
- Performance: Rana Madanat, Rimas Milhem, Jenna Abdul Alteef
- Videography: Amr Abu Eitah M
- Movement advisor: Anas Abunahleh
- Production adviser: Xiaoman Ren
- Sound editing: Jalal Khaled Bokadj
- Photography: Xiaoman Ren, Reema Shatat, Amr Abu Eitah
“This dance piece is born out of my reflection of reading an article of on Womanly Live.com.
In the article, a survey showed that 1 in 2 women around the world has given up on their dreams.
As a Jordanian female dance artist of eleven years of practicing in my country, I believe that one of the reasons for so many women to give up their dreams is that ‘their dreams’ do not fit traditional definitions of ‘success’ in their societies.”
— Rana Madanat (Choreographer)
Story Behind
“I would love to start the introduction of this project with a quote, ‘Freedom is being you without asking permission.’
I have been preparing for this piece for a long time, long before I joined the incubation program.
I have been dancing, teaching, choreographing since 2009 and these two young female dancers taking part in this project, Rimas, and Jenna, who are now in their mid-teens, have been learning dance from me for more than five years.
Since October 2020, we have been rehearsing nearly every other day for this piece, aiming to create a 30-minute-trio.
The performance in the form of an audio visual piece is an in-progress presentation of our continuous efforts.”
— Rana Madanat (Choreographer)
“Until now, everything has been male dominated, especially in the art world.
Female artists from the Arab world face many difficulties and limitations in creating and displaying their work.
I would want to see more opportunities for talented Arab women to deliver their voices and showcase their work to a global and diverse audience.”
— Rana Madanat (Choreographer)
“Until now, everything has been male dominated, especially in the art world.
Female artists from the Arab world face many difficulties and limitations in creating and displaying their work.
I would want to see more opportunities for talented Arab women to deliver their voices and showcase their work to a global and diverse audience.”
— Rana Madanat (Choreographer)
The Process
“Here is the Storyline of how three of us composed our movements:
- How to stand
- How to sit
- How to speak
- When to go back home
- Who to be friends with
- Which career to seek
The choreography we created reflected our perspective on how our society demands certain standards for females.
It is a glimpse of the internal struggles that society burdens females with and once we acknowledge that it is then that society evolves as a unit.
Therefore, I hope through watching this trio, Jordanian women and girls are at edge of giving up their dreams among the audiences, could feel something, could search for their internal strength, eventually find their own way of self expression and the possibility of breaking free from society chains.”
— Rana Madanat (Choreographer)
Project “Break Us Free” has been realized as part of “Choreography Creation Camp” (CCC) organized by Studio 8, with the support of Drosos Foundation, EUNIC Jordan and European Union in Jordan.
What is CCC?
CCC is a pilot version of a talent incubation program that supports emerging local young choreographers, dance makers, performance directors to sustain their individual or collaborative creativity, and, in the process, finding new ways to be connected with their audiences.
To know more about CCC program, click on the big C button below. Get digital access to the teaching manual of CCC program, click on the on the big M button below.
Project “Break Us Free” has been realized as part of “Choreography Creation Camp” (CCC) organized by Studio 8, with the support of Drosos Foundation, EUNIC Jordan and European Union in Jordan.
What is CCC?
CCC is a pilot version of a talent incubation program that supports emerging local young choreographers, dance makers, performance directors to sustain their individual or collaborative creativity, and, in the process, finding new ways to be connected with their audiences.
To know more about CCC program, click on the big C button below. Get digital access to the teaching manual of CCC program, click on the on the big M button below.
Feedback
helpful information that is given to emerging dance makers of what can be done to improve a dance piece.
“The girls are amazing!”
“I liked the lighting and the chosen colors for the general aesthetic of the performance.”
“Interesting use of the space.”
“This piece has the most decent duration for its theme and the parts in which it is divided.”
“About the music, the score is amazing! It brings out all this desire to break free, to revolt etc.”
“But the movement is getting too seduced by the music in some parts that the performing action is lost.”
“About the story, there are definitely ideas that support the title but I would like to see more the urge for freedom by showing the opposite state more intensely.”
“There is a lot of elements of ‘freedom’ in this piece, such the bench, the grabs. These are a good starting points but there is a need for more involvement with these elements, a need for more research. I would also ask how much is too much for the freedom to come?”
“Regarding to the use of music, I have a few comments. The use of music is an art of its own. Keep in mind that music is a performer itself.”
As a choreographer, you’d ask yourself the questions whether your performers could continuously dancing without a break, when is the breathing space for your performance, what is the relationship between your performers, are they in a group, or are they move individually, whether they’d physically contact each other or now. Try to ask yourself the same questions, imaging your music is a performer as well.”
– Zafeiria Tsirakaki – Dancer, Choreographer, Contemporary and ballet teacher
“Loving the music, choreography and performance!”
“Bravo Rana! Amazing performance. Well done!”
Featured in the Project
Jenna Abdul Alteef
Rimas Milhem
Jalal Khaled Bokadj
Next Generation International
Tempo Dance Academy
EUNIC Jordan
European Union in Jordan
Drosos Foundation