terranea: hakawatia of the sea

Work

Terranea: Hakawatia of the Sea (watchable here & here) weaves a contemporary mythology about Terranea, a sea spirit who gathers those that have lost their lives in the Mediterranean Sea. Developed collaboratively along the Lebanese and Sicilian coasts, in the lakes of Mni Sota Makoce (Minnesota, US), and with Palestinian water wells and streams in mind, this dance performance integrates oral histories around bodies of water while delving into the memories water itself can hold.

Dancers, musicians, and writers come together to imagine how to embody the lessons of this essential element. At the same time, we contemplate how our bodies are affected by absurd and deadly blockages, on land and in water, that impede free-flowing movement. Whereas in its past, the Mediterranean was a space of free and fluid migration, the sea is now marked with invisible borders and demarcations of power, with detrimental effects.

Through choreographies, this piece asks our bodies: How to unravel the ‘stuckedness’ that builds up and sinks deep under our skin? What grief exists at the moment of departure and which bone does it shake? Where are the songs of our ancestors stored, and how might we listen to their rhythm? What life giving connections can we find, of this earth and of the mythical realm? What is the memory of the sea and its ruptures?

Terranea received support from the National Performance Network through commissions by the Arab American National Museum, Links Hall and ARENA Dance. Support from the Jerome Hill Fellowship, Minnesota State Arts Board, and the Goethe Institute. Residencies at the Arab American National Museum (MI), Candy Box Festival (MN), Amalgam (LB), Hammana Artist House (LB), Beit Sarmada (LB), and the Camargo Foundation (FR). 

Images above by Houssam Mchaimech (top) and Jovan Landry (bottom)

Artists & Collaborators

Note: Our choreographic process is collaborative, with found movements and happenings that arise as we improvise together. Although Leila and Noelle Awadallah shape, guide and craft a majority of the movement sections of TERRANEA, we also celebrate the offerings of the core dancers and the artists we invited as guest collaborators.

CHOREOGRAPHY
Leila & Noelle Awadallah

CORE DANCERS
[MN] Leila Awadallah, Noelle Awadallah, Nakita Kirchner, Sharitah Nalule, Emma Marlar, Erica Jo Vibar Sherwood
[LB] Leila Awadallah, Andrea Fahed, Natasha Karam

ORIGINAL MUSIC
Lead Composer: Renée Copeland
Recording and mixing: Renée Copeland
Percussion+: Peter James Roduta
Vocalist: Amal Kaawash
Researcher: Amal Kaawash
Oud Instrumentalist: Clarissa Bitar
Sampled voices from songs by Simona Di Gregorio, Theatre of the Women of the Camp, Sanaa Moussa, Mariem Hassan
Vocals (of Amal) Recorded by Fadi Tabbal/Tunefork Studio

MYTHOLOGY OF TERRANEA
Writing: Romy Lynn Attieh & Leila Awadallah
Editing: Romy Lynn Attieh
Translation: Rana Issa
English reading: Leila Awadallah
Arabic reading: Wafika Loubani & Farah Basyouni

PROJECTION / VIDEO / LIGHTING
Cinematographer: Leila Awadallah
Editor: Leila Awadallah
Underwater dance shoot accompanied by second camera Xiaolu Wang

GUEST ARTISTS
[MN]: Or (Laura) Levinson, Carmen Lucia Lincoln, Asha Rowland, Roxane Wallace, Claire Wilcox,Erin Drummond, Julia Gay, Marisol Herling, Emma Marlar, Gayatri Lakshmi, Hui Niu Wilcox
[LB]: Sarah Almoneem, Romy Lynn Attieh, Zaynab Mourad, Layal Berberi, Stephanie Estephan
[MI]: Biba Bell, Celia Benvenutti, Renée Copeland, bree gant, Elisandra Rosario, Marly Spieser-Schneider [IL]: Fei Bi Chan, Aaliyah Christina, Phaedra Darwish, Chloe Grace Michels, Camila Rivero Pooley