El-Funoun Palestian Dance Troupe Workshops & Performance

Dancers from El-Funoun, the premier Palestinian dance group based in Ramallah, will be visiting Minnesota again on their tour of the United States in October 2025 to carry out a series of dabke workshops for beginners and advanced dancers. These gatherings promise to provide a rare opportunity for participants to learn more about the vital Palestinian artform of dabke, develop dabke skills, and make connections with community members.

El-Funoun’s work merges dynamic dance, storytelling, and audience participation to offer an intimate window into the lives and legacies of El-Funoun’s dancers. Through the voices and movements of five performers, stories of long-time members unfold, tracing cultural roots across generations, from parent to child. More than a performance, this is a living archive of memory, identity, and the enduring spirit of dabke as both resistance and celebration.

Community Dabke Workshop

Wed. September 9th, 6:30–8pm at Red Eye Theater (All levels)

Dabke Workshop for Experienced Dancers

Thurs. September 10th, 6:30–8:00pm at Red Eye Theater

*Experienced dancers meaning: you are comfortable in learning choreography at an intermediate pace.

Dabke Workshop for Children & Caretakers

Sat. September 12th, 10–11:30am at Powderhorn Park

*near the newly renovated playground near E 35th St and 15 Ave S.

All workshop registration comes with a promo code for a free ticket to the El-Funoun Performance on Friday or Saturday night!

FRIDAY & SATURDAY PERFORMANCES at 7PM

EL-FUNOUN PERFORMANCE featuring YALLA DRUM

September 11th, 7pm (doors 6:30pm) at Red Eye Theater

EL-FUNOUN PERFORMANCE

Sat. September 12th, 7pm (doors 6:30pm) at Red Eye Theater

SATURDAY FILM SCREENING + DISCUSSION

A Night We Held Between

Sat. September 12th, 5pm (doors 4:30pm) at Red Eye Theater

Followed by a discussion: Noora Baker, Leila Awadallah, and Noelle Awadallah, facilitated by Erin Gleeson

In Noor Abed’s A Night We Held Between, the land becomes the main character. Shot across ancient sites in Palestine—caves, carved holes, underground passages, and wild valleys—the film conjures history as a permanent present tense, a collective and imaginative act. Layered with “Song for The Fighters,” found at the sonic archive of the Popular Art Center Palestine, a labyrinth of sounds and sites traverses beyond the first layer of visibility to reveal a vast, hidden world similar to the one we know. Scenes intertwine rituals and narratives of community and resistance into everyday representations of social life in Palestine, thus emphasizing the role of collective rhythmic movement and the potential impact that shared feelings can evoke in creating and sustaining a community.

*Film ticket comes with a promo code for a free ticket to an El-Funoun Performance at 7pm.

Hosted by Body Watani, Grief & Rage Circle for Palestine, Mizna, FD13 Residency for the Arts. With collaboration and support from Red Eye, Pillsbury House & Theatre, New American Theater Work's Yalla Drum and Families Against Military Madness.