Monday 16 - Friday 20 October

Image credit: Ahma Odeh

During the residency Farah Saleh and collaborators will research and develop The Undercommons. A new multi-generational, participatory performance for young audiences, performed by an ensemble of four young performers aged between 8-10, two professional artists aged 20-40 (Jack Anderson & Phoebe Knight) and one mature dancer aged 60+ (Diane Mitchell).

The performance will tackle the theme of a ‘diverse society’ by exploring – with young audiences – the complex constellations of people and lived experiences – such as differing ethnic backgrounds; age, ancestry, generation; disability; and gender identity – that make up our communities and the world we share. Farah is collaborating on this initial research stage of the project with dramaturg Luke Pell and creative producer Helen McIntosh.

The Undercommons is funded by Creative Scotland, in partnership with Lyra, Dance Base and Imaginate.

Luke Pell – Dramaturg
Helen McIntosh – Creative Producer
Diane Mitchell, Jack Anderson, Phoebe Knight – Performers
Fi Fraser – Production Manager

About Farah Saleh

Farah Saleh is a Palestinian dancer and choreographer active in Palestine, Europe and the US. She has studied linguistic and cultural mediation in Italy and in parallel continued her studies in contemporary dance. Since 2010 she took part in local and international projects with Sareyyet Ramallah Dance Company (Palestine), the Royal Flemish Theatre and Les Ballets C de la B (Belgium), Mancopy Dance Company (Denmark/Lebanon), Siljehom/Christophersen (Norway) and Candoco Dance Company (UK). Also since 2010, Saleh has been teaching dance, coordinating and curating artistic projects with the Palestinian Circus School, Sareyyet Ramallah and the Ramallah Contemporary Dance Festival. In 2016 she co-founded and ran Sareyyet Ramallah Summer Dance School for four years. In 2014 she won the third prize of the Young Artist of the Year Award (YAYA) organized by A.M. Qattan Foundation in Palestine for her installation A Fidayee Son in Moscow and in 2016 she won the dance prize of Palest’In and Out Festival in Paris for the duet La Même. She was an Associate Artist at Dance Base in Edinburgh 2017-2021 and she earned her practice-based PhD at Edinburgh College of Art in 2023.

www.farahsaleh.com
Facebook:@farahsalehdance
Instagram: @farahsalehdance

Supported through our In-Kind Studio Space & Support programme