About Samar Haddad King

New York, NY

Samar Haddad King (CBA ’20), Artistic/Founding Director of Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre (YSDT), graduated cum laude in choreography from the Ailey/Fordham BFA program under the tutelage of Kazuko Hirabayashi. With YSDT, King has created over 30 original works which have been performed in 10 counties across 4 continents. Awards and commissions include: Hubbard Street 2 – National Choreography Competition; Palest’In & OUT Festival (Paris, France) – Prix des Jeunes Créateurs Palestiniens pour la Diversité des Expressions Artistiques award; and the Palestinian Museum (Palestine) among others, and was recently awarded La Fabrique Chaillot residency at Chaillot – Théâtre national de la Danse (Paris, France) for the development of a new work. King frequently collaborates on theatrical and musical theater productions, including the upcoming production of We Live in Cairo (American Repertory Theater, Boston, Massachusetts). She frequently lectures on her work at institutions including TanzKongress (Hanover, Germany), University of Virginia (Charlottesville, Virginia), and Columbia University Center for Palestine Studies (New York, New York), and co-authored a chapter on dance in the Arab World with Sandra Noeth for the 2nd edition of Contemporary Choreography (Routledge, January 2018).

3 x 13

3 x 13, a site-specific participatory score and public performance, looks at what brings people together en masse, and the mechanics of unison movement in political, social and cultural events over the past century. Drawing on moments of celebration, conflict, and protest, 3 x 13 explores the harmony and discord between individual and collective choice-making. A single three-minute phrase of ensemble movement is re-purposed, repeated and given new meaning throughout the evening-length work, where spectators are invited to participate, play and engage with the performers in a variety of public spaces. 3 x 13 is both a performance and an exploration of individual and collective transformation.

Gallery

Samar Haddad King headshot.
Samar Haddad King headshot.