12 / 8 / 2024

Thirteen projects were selected to receive support through AFAC’s Performing Arts program for 2024. These projects, which experiment with multisensorial and interactive methods, aim to create moments of connection and engagement with audiences. They address a range of topics, including migration and exile, gender and diversity, and the lingering impact of the past.

The Performing Arts 2024 jurors — Tunisian theater director and cultural manager Cyrine Gannoun, Syrian actress Nanda Mohammad and Moroccan dancer Taoufiq Izeddiou — convened in July to review the applications and make their final selection. At the close of their deliberations, the Performing Arts jury committee issued the following statement, encapsulating their impressions:

The jury for this year’s Performing Arts program convened in Beirut after the initial evaluation of proposals to select the projects that will receive support. While there was an abundance of deserving projects that we wanted to ensure were supported, we had to make selections within the parameters of the program and available funds.

Though we considered the priorities and challenges facing the Arab region, our main focus was on the quality of projects in terms of innovation and feasibility. We are pleased that the final selections represent a diverse range of geographic areas.

We observed a significant disparity in the quality of applications across the region, particularly among individual submissions. While many ideas were promising, their presentation often obscured their concepts, making it challenging for the jury to fully understand what the artist intended to implement or propose. Therefore, we encourage artists to refine their project formulation.

The jury also noted that many projects incorporated dance in a gratuitous manner without clear artistic justification. We recommend a more thoughtful approach to integrating the body and dance in performing arts.

The 13 grantees – 10 individual artists and 3 cultural institutions – work across theater and dance and look to do everything from staging performances and festivals to taking plays on tour.

Projects selected by the jurors

• Story of… — Laila Soliman, Egypt | Theater Performance
• The Adventures of a Hypothetical Self — Yara Bou Nassar, Lebanon | Theater Performance
• Human Shields — Nicolas Fattouh, Lebanon | Theater Performance
• Ahlam Meshabka — Rasha Ernest, Egypt | Dance Performance/Training
• A Very Light House — Razan Alsayed, Palestine | Theater Performance
• Do You Know a Place that Doesn't Exist Anymore? — Mara Ingea, Lebanon | Theater Performance/Training
• Not Like This — Mirette Mechail, Egypt | Dance Performance
• Crave — Dima Abazah, Syria | Theater Performance
• Seed of the Future — Yasser Jridi, Tunisia | Theater Performance
• L'Brahech — We the Lions, Morocco | Dance Performance/Touring
• The Ramallah Contemporary Dance Festival 2025 — Sareyyet Ramallah, Palestine | Dance Festival
• Touring of Guernica- Gaza — Ashtar for Theatre Productions and Training, Palestine | Touring
• Dead - Lift — Al-Harah Theater, Palestine | Theater Performance