Now is your chance to join us! We are holding auditions for both our Los Angeles and Seattle chapters. Are you a dancer with a love for advocacy, community, and performing? Join us SUNDAY, January 4th! ALL genders, ages, bodies, and backgrounds welcome! Apply TODAY and if you have any questions, please email us at qabilafoundation@gmail.com.
Our annual theater production is a favorite around here for both the artistic adventure, bringing all three of our chapters together, and getting to share with you two special performances in person. The magic and power of “Huriya: a dance for liberation” was nearly tangible at both our Los Angeles and Seattle shows. Every dancer focused, committed, nervous and excited. And the results heartfelt, inspiring, and cathartic. It takes a village to do these undertakings. Huge thank you to 4Culture and the Washington State Arts Commission for their support through grants! Thank you to Studio A Dance and eXit Space for being accessible spaces for independent dance, something that is becoming a rarity. Thank you to our crew: Alexandra Samuel, Dan Rosenboom, David McGrath, Eemah, Jane Amlin, Jay Shepherd, Kati Simek, Lori Anne Edwards, Salvordor De La Torre, and Sarah O’Brien for all your hardwork and making sure our production ran smooth. Big love to our dancers whom put in so many hours and late nights training, preparing, and rehearsing. To our audience, THANK YOU!!! The responses and feedback have been amazing and so heart warming. And lastly to our directors for whom are the heartbeat of this, forever family.
We are already planning for next year so mark your calendars now and see you there!
November 8, 2026 Los Angeles
November 15th Seattle
Our annual dance concert is a highlight every year~ the culmination of months of preparations, bringing all three of our chapters together, and creating and sharing a completely new production with our audiences. This past weekend we debuted “Huriya: a dance for liberation” in Los Angeles. Our dancers from Seattle and the Bay Area arrived Friday in the middle of one of the rainiest storms Los Angeles has seen in over 50 years. We gathered in the studio for our first time all together for this production, some meeting for the first time and all feeling like family coming together with big hugs and giddy excitement. We rehearsed into the late night, pouring all our energy into refining the show to share with everyone the following day. As midnight struck, some of the cast fell into deep life conversations while the last pieces were being worked on. Our work is one of movement, heart, and spirit. So this felt like perfect synergy and preparations for our concert…
In 2017, Arab American Heritage Month began as a grassroots movement to bring recognition and solidarity to our Arab American communities. In 2021 it was officially recognized by the President. It should be noted Arab Americans have been part of the United States history since the 1500s when Estebanico Azemmouri landed in the U.S. in 1527 considered the first Arab American. We highly recommending visiting the Arab American National Museum which has a great exhibit about the history of Arab Americans and their contributions in many fields, plus offers beautiful educational resources and other art events supporting the diverse & amazing Arab American community.
A note from our artistic director, Aubre Hill:
“I am not Arab American, and I know sometimes people get confused by my involvement and dedication to political activism and education here. The short of it is I found my home and passion in “bellydance” in college. While I earned my degree in zoology & chemistry, Middle Eastern dance was taking over my life in the most beautiful ways. I started traveling to learn more, meeting more people & artists, working more exclusively in Arab American communities, I got involved and invested. And then 9/11 happened. Over night I found my voice in a way I never thought possible. My art became a calling for advocacy. As a Japanese American whose grandmother was interned during World War II, the type of scapegoating & growing hate was too familiar. It was visceral. I now direct one of the few pan Arab dance companies, teach decolonized dance and movement, and advocate daily for our collective liberation. None of us are free until all of us are free.”
This month, we are excited to support local events in our Arab American communities, listen to their stories & voices, support wherever we can, and daily put pressure on our government for a ceasefire & FREE FALASTIN!
Have you always wanted to be part of a dance family of warm hearted, hard working, dedicated learners sharing their love of Arabic dance, music, and culture? Now is your chance! We are holding auditions for both our Los Angeles and Seattle chapters~ SUNDAY, January 5th. ALL genders, ages, bodies, and backgrounds welcome! Apply TODAY and if you have any questions, please email us at qabilafoundation@gmail.com
This past month was a whirlwind of dancing from our annual production, “Bayt-Home”, to the SeaTac Pop Up Treasures, to debuting new work at “Awe & Wonder” exploring what is means to Look, Feel, and Be human in response to AI technology development. Huge thank you to everyone that attended a performance or multiple. Your support means the world!
The Qabila Project proudly presents~
“BAYT~HOME”
Saturday, November 9th, 2024 Los Angeles
Saturday, November 16th, 2024 Seattle
Exploring concepts of home and belonging, this year’s production will feature all new work with the Qabila Dance Company and special guest artist Samia Karimi (Los Angeles) and Black Sea Dance with Izumi (Seattle). Join us for this unique and beautiful evening of dance, music, and community celebrating SWANA dance traditions and expressions.
LOS ANGELES
Held at Studio A Dance, 2306 Hyperion Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90027.
Street Parking with many of local restaurants to enjoy before or after.
Tickets are limited to get your’s today while you can!
presale $30, at the door $40 (if available)
PURCHASE TICKETS HERE
SEATTLE
Held at Exit Space, 1621 12th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122 .
Street Parking.
The Seattle Qabila Project is fiscally sponsored by Shunpike. Thus it is a great joy to announce this year’s tickets are by donation for more accessibility. Thank you for supporting Qabila!
PURCHASE TICKETS HERE
We are thrilled and honored to share this year’s production with you all!
Pictured above: Yallah!, Middle East Music & Dance Camp, Emerald Sanctuary Retreat, Heidi’s 70th birthday celebration
We are honored and thrilled to have the amazing Samia Karimi for a unique online Afghan Dance course next month!!! Stay tuned for full details. This course will include technique, cultural context, musicality, and an opportunity to perform for those local to Los Angeles at the culmination of the course. Full details will be announced on our website shortly. Don’t miss this opportunity to study with an incredible teacher, artist, and being. Email qabilafoundation@gmail.com if you would like to receive details directly as soon as they are available.
In celebration of back-to-school, Dance for Palestine is offering a new fundraiser featuring a whole library of video classes by some of today’s top Middle Eastern dance artists, teachers, and scholars. All proceeds will go directly to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund. Fundraiser launches Sept 1st so don’t miss out on this great chance to dive into your studies while supporting Falastin!
“Core Connections: Cairo Belly Dance in the Revolution’s Aftermath” by Christine M. Şahin, published w/ Oxford University Press (2024), is available to readers worldwide! This is a dance ethnography based on fieldwork in Cairo between 2015-2020 - a key time in the city’s rich dance history remaining highly relevant today. Explore contemporary class-stratified sites of dance in relation to embodied socio-political values & knowledge. Deepen your understanding of Cairo raqs sharqi dancers’ lived realities, commercial performance circuits, and dance’s entwinement with history, culture, & local, intra-MENA, and global politics.”
Interested in joining us for a book club? Email qabilafoundation@gmail.com for details.
The Qabila Project stands with Palestine. Every Child deserves care, aid, and support. Please help support the children of Gaza by donating today. All funds go directly to Palestine Children's Relief Fund providing medical care and humanitarian relief for all children.
This fundraiser includes two upcoming events in Los Angeles and Bay Area respectively. Full details to come asap. All donations help and go directly to Palestine Children’s Relief Fund. Together we can create change building our collective humanity. Shukran!
DONATE TODAY
Have you always wanted to be part of a dance family of warm hearted, hard working, dedicated learners sharing their love of Arabic dance, music, and culture? Now is your chance! We are holding auditions for both our Los Angeles and Seattle chapters~ SUNDAY, January 7th. ALL genders, ages, bodies, and backgrounds welcome! Apply TODAY and if you have any questions, please email us at qabilafoundation@gmail.com
On Monday February 6, 2023, a 7.8 earthquake shook Syria and Turkey with several aftershocks devastating the area including the collapse of buildings and the buckling of roads. Rescue efforts have been intensified by winter temperatures, a lack of infrastructure, and limited aid to find and save those trapped under the rubble.
While many of us could be there to help directly, we did what we could by gathering to raise funds and support our Syrian and Turkish family and friends. Friday, February 17th we produced the Earthquake Relief Concert at Evolution Dance Studios. Featuring the dance artistry of Adrianne, Ariel Kasha, Aubre Hill, Ayse,
Corina, Elizabeth Strong, Gulistan Dance Theater, Laura Leyl, Olga Kramarova, Samia Karimi and live music by Vedat! It was a heart warming and healing evening.
We exceeded our original goal with everyone’s generosity, raising over $3400 that went directly to Save The Children. Much love to everyone that made this concert possible and to all that donated and supported.
It has been a long three years since our last Nights of Arabe production, and we are thrilled and honored to be bringing together all three of our dance company chapters for this one evening! Join us Saturday, November 19th at Studio A Dance for this sojourn across the Arab World and beyond! Doors open at 7pm, Show begins at 7:30pm with refreshments and a reception to follow. Tickets are limited to respect space and safety. So get your’s TODAY and see you November 19th! Purchase tickets HERE
We are looking for a diversity of team players with a genuine enthusiasm for learning and sharing Arabic culture through dance and music. Members are required to attend rehearsals (on zoom & once a month in studio with masks) every Sunday 10am-12pm, pay $20 monthly dues to help cover operational costs, and sign a year contract. Auditions must be received by Wednesday September 8th. Email to qabilafoundation@gmail.com . Selected members will be notified Friday September 10th to begin rehearsing with us Sunday September 12th.
Last Friday, June 11th 2021, our Los Angeles chapter returned to the stage for the first time in over a year. What an incredible blessing and joy it was! A few photos by Aubre Hill from the LA Hafla~ Homage performance featuring Alia Gamal, Yuliya Lunessia, LoriAnne Edwards, Eemah, and Alice Dee. You can still see this show but don’t delay it is only up until Friday, June 18th. See the show HERE!
