2005
Palestine/New York
+16467344342
Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre (YSDT)'s mission is to create invigorating performance and education programs that expand access to - and promote understanding through - the arts.
YSDT believes art should be liberating, transformative, and accessible to all. The company operates out of the United States and Arab World and is committed to uniting diverse artists and audiences in the creative process.
Since 2005, YSDT has taught and performed in ten countries across four continents, and fostered the careers of over 50 emerging artists, with a repertoire of more than 30 original performances including solos, small ensemble and group works. New York City area performances have included venues and festivals such as: Baryshnikov Arts Center, Downtown Dance Festival, Jacob’s Pillow, Joyce SoHo, Harlem Stage, LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, Tribeca Performing Arts Center, Queens Museum of Art, Teatro LATEA, and Whitewave Festival. Following eight years of NYC programming, YSDT established a secondary base in Palestine in 2012. The company has since developed groundbreaking methods of working across cultural and geographic borders which have been covered in Dance Magazine, The Huffington Post, and Hyperallergic, among others. Abroad, the company has taught and performed at international universities and festivals, museums, UN refugee schools, and site-specific locations throughout Belgium, France, Germany, Japan, Jordan, Palestine, South Korea, and Tunisia.
YSDT has been awarded residencies from Baryshnikov Arts Center, Chaillot - théâtre national de la Danse (Paris, France), Dance Initiative (Carbondale, CO), Jacob's Pillow, LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Palestinian Museum, Queens Museum of Art, and Tribeca Performing Arts Center; and grants by the A.M. Qattan Foundation, al-Mawred al-Thaqaafi, American Dance Abroad, Arab Fund for Arts and Culture, Bossak/Heilbron Charitable Foundation, Dance Advancement Fund, Dance/NYC Covid Relief, FACE Foundation and the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Manhattan Community Arts Fund, Mosaic Network & Fund in the New York Community Trust, National Endowment for the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, NYC COVID-19 Response & Impact Fund in The New York Community Trust, New York Foundation for the Arts, New York Live Arts Suitcase Fund, and the O’Donnell-Green Music & Dance Foundation.
https://www.facebook.com/ysdt.org