“Tawazoun” debut at Huriya: a dance for liberation. Performance by Sara Spitfire, Adri, Belen Garibaldi, Juniper, Aubre Hill, and Deborah. Los Angeles 11/15/25. Photo by Sal de la Torre.
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.
Saturday we gathered at the theater, our beloved Studio A Dance, to set up and make this all happen. Oliver, Deborah’s amazing husband, Deborah, our long time LA member, and Aubre, our artistic director, got to work setting up the curtains, risers, and chairs that create the theater. Dan, Aubre’s husband, settled into manage the sound and light boards, which Aubre had stayed up until 2:30am programming. Dancers arranged costumes and props and got makeup on. By 5pm we started our tech rehearsal to weave all the pieces and parts together. Doors opened at 7:30pm with people already waiting, snuggled under the eves to step out of the rain. And by 8:05pm with a beautifully full audience whom had braved the storm to join us for this unique evening, we began. The sheer volume of water falling from the sky felt symbolic of our processing and moving through the heaviness of life as we danced through grief, rage, loss, desperation, empowerment, love, joy, and hope. We explored concepts of home, liberation, what it means to be human, and celebrated with folkloric forms from across the SWANA region. It was cathartic for audience, cast, and crew. As the rain continued to pour, we filled our hearts with dance, music, and community.
And we get to do it one more time! We head to Seattle this weekend to share “Huriya: a dance for liberation” at eXit Space Saturday, November 22nd, 2025. With the support in part by grants from 4Culture and the Washington State Arts Commission, we are able to offer tickets by donation. For those in the Seattle area, we hope to see you there! Full ticket and performance info HERE