The Netherlands | 2023 - now
Adam Dawuod
"Growing up in Palestine as a child, I remember looking out of my window and seeing the buildings of Gaza and the sea. I wondered what lay beyond the horizon. What was behind the water? What colors, cultures, and languages could there be? What existed beyond Gaza's borders? As a child, I could only imagine.
Being the largest prison in the world, it was not possible for anyone to enter or leave Gaza. My life experiences were colored by facing injustice, repression, violence, and wars. That was my environment.
To cope with these hardships, I started dancing. I practiced every day alone in my small room, without a teacher or a dance school. From early in the morning before going to school until the darkness of the night. Without electricity, dancing became my source of light.
I gradually learned to use my situation as fuel to dance and become the best version of myself, instead of being beaten down by it. After eight years of self-training and performing in the streets, schools, theaters, and on most stages in Gaza, my dream led me to dance beyond its borders.
In 2017, the Gaza border opened every three months for a period of three days. I seized the opportunity to participate in a competition called "Arab's Got Talent" in Beirut, Lebanon. I made it to the semifinals. This opportunity ignited a fire in me on a new level.
Upon returning home from Lebanon, the borders to Gaza were closed. An attempt to enter Gaza from Egypt also failed. After traveling back to Lebanon, my one-time visa did not allow me back in, so I slept at the airport for three nights, wondering what to do and where to go. I eventually found my way to Jordan, where I earned money by dancing for eight months, but I had no legal papers to stay. In 2018, I was selected for the "Summer Dance Forever" event in Amsterdam, and to me, this was a point of no return.
Through dance, I escaped reality. It took me across countries and freed me. Dancing healed me. It is my oxygen, my teacher, my compass, my guidance. Dancing is my everything. Dancing is my life. I cannot stop dancing".
"Growing up in Palestine as a child, I remember looking out of my window and seeing the buildings of Gaza and the sea. I wondered what lay beyond the horizon. What was behind the water? What colors, cultures, and languages could there be? What existed beyond Gaza's borders? As a child, I could only imagine.
Being the largest prison in the world, it was not possible for anyone to enter or leave Gaza. My life experiences were colored by facing injustice, repression, violence, and wars. That was my environment.
To cope with these hardships, I started dancing. I practiced every day alone in my small room, without a teacher or a dance school. From early in the morning before going to school until the darkness of the night. Without electricity, dancing became my source of light.
I gradually learned to use my situation as fuel to dance and become the best version of myself, instead of being beaten down by it. After eight years of self-training and performing in the streets, schools, theaters, and on most stages in Gaza, my dream led me to dance beyond its borders.
In 2017, the Gaza border opened every three months for a period of three days. I seized the opportunity to participate in a competition called "Arab's Got Talent" in Beirut, Lebanon. I made it to the semifinals. This opportunity ignited a fire in me on a new level.
Upon returning home from Lebanon, the borders to Gaza were closed. An attempt to enter Gaza from Egypt also failed. After traveling back to Lebanon, my one-time visa did not allow me back in, so I slept at the airport for three nights, wondering what to do and where to go. I eventually found my way to Jordan, where I earned money by dancing for eight months, but I had no legal papers to stay. In 2018, I was selected for the "Summer Dance Forever" event in Amsterdam, and to me, this was a point of no return.
Through dance, I escaped reality. It took me across countries and freed me. Dancing healed me. It is my oxygen, my teacher, my compass, my guidance. Dancing is my everything. Dancing is my life. I cannot stop dancing".
"My life experiences were colored by facing injustice, repression, violence, and wars. That was my environment"
