Zoe Rabinowitz

Gathering is an invitation, it’s a party, a protest, a celebration of harvest, the championship game. Gathering is a night of storytelling and play that is part staged work, part improvisational score. Produced and performed by Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre (Palestine/NYC) and directed/composed by Samar Haddad King, Gathering was commissioned as part of the 2023-24 Open Call Series at The Shed where premiered in June 20-22, 2024. We held creative residencies in April, 2023 at The Shed and Snug Harbor Cultural Center (Staten Island) as part of the CUNY Dance Initiative.

Learn more and watch the trailer here.

This is How We Remember is a full length work about holding the reality of loss and suffering alongside the beauty and thrill of being alive. Featuring original movement performed by Mary McGrath and Zoe Rabinowitz, choreography by Zoe Rabinowitz in collaboration with Mary McGrath, new music score by Galen Bremer, video by Bremer and Rabinowitz and lighting design by Connor Sale. The work bears witness to deterioration and transformation over time, inspired by the artists' experience with Alzheimer's disease.

World Premiere: November 17 & 18, 2022 at Triskelion Arts with additional performances at Philadelphia Fringe Festival September 21 & 22, 2024.

This is How We Remember was commissioned by Triskelion Arts and sponsored, in part, by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC).

Watch the trailer here.

Created by Samar Haddad King and produced by Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre in partnership with St. Ann’s Warehouse, The Walk Productions and Handspring Puppet Company, this traveling site-specific performance for Lower Manhattan featured over 60 local dancers (including youth, pre-professional and professional artists), parkour performers and live musicians. Part of Little Amal Walks NYC, a series of 55 events of welcome for Amal, a 12-foot-tall puppet of a Syrian refugee girl, this athletic site specific work explores the power and strength of young immigrants as they face the reality of pursuing life in America, often against great obstacles.

October 1, 2022 at 1pm, The Charging Bull Statue, NYC

Last Ward follows one man’s journey towards death in a hospital. Surrounded by the sterile mechanisms of modern medicine, the patient reflects on his life, relationships and connection to place, as the ritual of doctor visits and family calls transform into an increasingly bizarre landscape of tragedy and humor.

Written/directed by Amir Nizar Zuabi with choreography/music by Samar Haddad King and performed by an international cast, Last Ward blends dance and theater (in Arabic with English subtitles) in a highly-visual evening-length performance.

May 5-12, 2022 at The White Box, Gibney, New York, NY

Read the NYTimes Review

For the month of September, 2021 I was in Marseille, France with Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre for this site-specific creation and performance as part of The Walk, an international festival in support of refugees.

This online video presentation of My Future is Turtle culminated a month-long residency at Judson Church awarded to myself and collaborator Galen Bremer in February 2021. The work and talk back are available online here.

12 Journeys. 8 Countries. One dance film experience. Produced by Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre and Created by award-winning Director Eimi Imanshi and Choreographer Samar Haddad King, 3 x 13 explores the singularity of the individual and the universality of the human experience. In 12 short films, 12 artists from around the globe share a journey of transformation that deeply marked their lives. This piece premiered in February 2021, and remains available online at: https://3x13film.ysdt.org/

My Future is Turtle is an ongoing exploration of the nature of reality, and the various ways that we seek and make meaning in the world as individuals and groups. Research for this project to date has involved fields and systems ranging from quantum theory to tarot, astrology, Buddhism, improvisation, chance operations and genealogy. The project was first developed in residency at LAKE Studios Berlin, in collaboration with sound and video artist Galen Bremer. Video footage - inspired by the three defining tenants of reality outlined by quantum physicist Carlo Rovelli as: relationality, granularity and indeterminacy - was collected from the natural world and brought into the studio in conversation with live movement, music and text. In Janaury 2020, My Future is Turtle was presented at Triskelion Arts as part of the Never Before Never Again Festival (guest curated by The Lovelies) in Brooklyn, NY.

In October-November, 2019, I participated in residencies with Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre at Middlebury College (VT) and Jacob’s Pillow (MA) for the final creative process for Last Ward, and led a lecture and masterclass at UMass Boston. Each residency included lectures, workshops, and work-in-progress showings that were free and open to the public.

On October 12 & 13, 2019 I performed a site-specific adaptation of my solo, Weft, with music by Galen Bremer at Marrowbone in the mountains of Lincoln, VT.

During July, 2019 I was a resident artist at Lake Studios Berlin for the research and development of new work in collaboration with sound artist/composer Galen Bremer. The work in progress of My Future is Turtle (working title), which explores the nature of reality through scientific and spiritual methods, was performed as part of the Unfinished Fridays series at Lake Studios on July 16, 2019.

This new dance film, created with and inspired by photos by A-CHAN, was made in collaboration with Galen Bremer and Stephanie Sutherland, with choreography and performance by myself. The piece was featured as part of Sky and Cloud / Winter Spring, a photography exhibit by A-CHAN at +81 Gallery in SoHo, New York, February 15 - March 16, 2018, and screened at a GRRL HAUS CINEMA event in Berlin, Germany in July, 2019, with an original score by Galen Bremer.

Inspired by the young Egyptians who took to the streets to overthrow President Hosni Mubarak in 2011, this new musical presented by The American Repertory Theater (May 14 - June 23, 2019) follows six revolutionary students armed with laptops and cameras, guitars and spray cans as they come of age in a contemporary Cairo.

Directed by Taibi Magar with book, music and lyrics by Daniel Lazour and Patrick Lazour. Choreography by Samar Haddad King, Associate Choreographer, Zoe Rabinowitz.

On October 6, 2018, I performed The Playground with Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre: a multi-channel video installation and live durational performance which examines the role of games in popular culture to normalize war and violence. Featuring video footage from the American war in Iraq, the US/Colombia '94 World Cup match, and an xbox gaming station alongside four live performers stationed in cell-like rooms subjected to music torture techniques used on prisoners at Guatanamo Bay, The Playground invites audience members to question their own role as an observer in this context; at what point does their participation implicate them in the action of the game? This five-hour installation was performed as part of the 2018 Nuit Blanche Brussels festival.

A new evening length performance by Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre. Last Ward follows one man's journey towards death in a hospital room. Surrounded by the sterile mechanisms of modern medicine, the patient reflects on his life, relationships and connection to place, as the ritual of doctor visits and family calls merge with his imagination into a surreal landscape of tragedy and humor. Written and directed by Amir Nizar Zuabi, with choreography and music by Samar Haddad King, Last Ward blends dance and theater (in Arabic with English subtitles) in a highly-visual evening length performance. Preview performances took place in August, 2018 in Jerusalem and Haifa.

YSDT continued the creation process of our new evening-length dance theatre work, Last Ward, during La Fabrique Chaillot, a five week creative residency period in Paris. Last Ward follows one man's journey towards death in a hospital room. Surrounded by the sterile mechanisms of modern medicine, the patient reflects on his life, relationships and connection to place, as the ritual of doctor visits and family calls merge with his imagination into a surreal landscape of tragedy and humor. Written and directed by Amir Nizar Zuabi and choreographed by Samar Haddad King with Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre and guest artist Khalifa Natour, Last Ward blends dance and theater (in Arabic with English subtitles) in a highly-visual evening length performance. 

This Spring I joined YSDT — with company members from Palestine in the US to collaborate for the first time — for the launch of a new creative process during residencies at the Dance Initiative Residency in Carbondale, CO, April 6 - 13, 2018, and Baryshnikov Arts Center Residency in New York, NY, April 16 - 21, 2018. Click here to read and listen to coverage on our Colorado residencies in the local news!

Weft investigates how we weave our personal narrative from the people, places, and communities we come to know throughout our lives. Developed in residencies in the U.S and abroad through site-based improvisation, dance for camera, and studio practice, this multi-media solo work incorporates movement, music, film projection, and textiles in an intimate live performance that attempts to unravel the thread of one artist’s journey. Original score by Galen Bremer. World premiere on November 8, 2017 at Cucalorus Festival, Thalian Theater in Wilmington, NC.

October 16 - November 2 2017, I was an artist in residence at the Seoul Dance Center in South Korea for the development of Weft, a multimedia collaboration with composer/videographer Galen Bremer. During this time I also offered a series of workshops for movers of all levels at SDC, and for pre-professional dancers at the Ewha Dance Academy in Incheon. You can view more photos of my time in Seoul here.

Throughout the month of September 2017, Artistic Director Samar Haddad King and myself offered a series of workshops and lecture/presentations at Drew University (Madison, NJ) and Fordham University (Bronx and Lincoln Center campus). These programs focused on YSDT's work redefining and reclaiming space in conflict zones through artistic projects.

Against a Hard Surface, an evening-length work by Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre, asks what happens to a group of people isolated from the rest of the world by a wall. Created by theatre director Amir Nizar Zuabi and choreographer Samar Haddad King, Against a Hard Surface is a portrayal of human resistance and resilience in a dystopian landscape. World premiere: April 29, 2017, Ramallah Contemporary Dance Festival. Additional performances: Al-Hakawati Theatre, Jerusalem (May 3, 2017), Krieger Center, Haifa (May 4, 2017). European premiere: June 6-8, 2017, Theater der Welt Festival in Hamburg, Germany.

Against a Hard Surface is a production of Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre and supported by the A.M Qattan Foundation/ The Qattan Grant for Performing Arts 2016 and Covillo Lynch Foundation, and co-produced by Sareyyet Ramallah in partnership with the Palestinian Museum.

For the month of January, 2017 I was in process with Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre for the creation of a new work, Against a Hard Surface, at the Palestinian Museum in Birzeit, Palestine. This evening length piece about life under occupation will premiere at the Ramallah Contemporary Dance Festival on April 29, 2017.

Following the world premiere screening at the Dance on Camera Festival, part of the Shorts Program II: Experimental, at the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center on February 16, 2016, this abstract short dance film screened at the Detroit Dance City Festival on August 24, 2016, and Muestra Movimiento Audovisual in Guadeljara, Mexico, on November 10, 2016. Most recently, know you made it's European Premiere at the Dance on Screen Festival in Graz, Austria. Created in collaboration with Emma Hoette and Galen Bremer.

This Fall I had the honor of sharing the work of Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre with new audiences in Philadelphia via workshops, performance, and discussions in partnership with Jewish Voice for Peace and The Whole Shebang. I also spoke with Artistic Director Samar Haddad King at Columbia University's Center for Palestine Studies on November 29, 2016.

In collaboration with composer Galen Bremer, this three week residency at the Marble House Project in Dorset, VT, provided space for the preliminary investigation of a new work entitled Weft, a multimedia solo based on the mythology and practice of weaving. A work-in-progress performance of the work was shared on September 13, 2016, at Marble House Project's Art-SEED performance series.
 

In collaboration with Khaled Barghouthi, this month-long residency provided space for the development of a new work entitled MarchIn at Lehman College in the Bronx. Inspired by the camera movements of handheld video footage, and the implications of living through, and witnessing via video, various traumatic incidents, this process involved site exploration, video projection and a studio showing for students on August 30, 2016.

On June 25 and 25, 2016, know you screened at the first annual Harrisburg Dance Festival in Harrisburg, PA, with live performances on June 26th at the Susquehanna Art Museum, featuring the solo version of be-seek-let (pictured) and Wardrobe of Choreography, Outfit #1 by Emma Hoette, in collaboration with Zoe Rabinowitz and Jessie Young.

Inspired by the Evergreens Cemetery on the Brooklyn/Queens border, Anne Zuerner's Archaea for the Evergreens, brings together abstract, spiritual and scientific ideas surrounding life and death through a large-scale, site-based work. Performed by: Martita Abril, Chris Braz, Sara Gurevich, Ainesh Madan, Penelope McCourty, Jenna Purcell, Phoebe Rose Sandford and sixth grade students from the MS 358 Dance Company on Saturdays and Sundays from May 22 - June 11, 2016. Music by: Galen Bremer. Rehearsal Director: Zoe Rabinowitz. Photo by Whitney Browne.

be-seek-let is a duet for a dancer and bicycle that investigates the relationship between human and apparatus. In a world that blurs the line between animate and inorganic, this work reimagines the connection between human and environment. be-seek-let is set to an original score by Galen Bremer, and was created with support from Women in Motion and the Manhattan Community Arts Fund. Performed on June 7, 2016 at the 15th Annual New Dance Festival in Daejeon, South Korea. Photo by Galen Bremer.

Modern dance and improvisation workshops for students at Chungnam University and META Dance Company members in Daejeon, South Korea from May 31 - June 4, 2016.

Alongside+ is an international collaboration with Won Kim, Young Hoon Oh, and Tim Motzer, performed at the Arko Arts Theater as part of the International Modern Dance Festival (MODAFE) in Seoul, South Korea on May 27 and 29, 2016. Alongside+ deals with the understanding and consideration that are the prime value for the people in the world. It explores the sharing of recognition that comes out of the exchange among people based on individual free thinking. Also, the work suggests an example of horizontal, not vertical, relationship among people.

Inspired by a cemetery on the Brooklyn/Queens border, Anne Zuerner's Archaea brings together abstract, spiritual and scientific ideas surrounding life and death. This work is a re-envisioning of a large-scale, site-based work that will premiere at the Evergreens Cemetery in Spring 2016. Performed at Triskelion Arts, February 6 & 7, 2016. Choreography by Anne Zuerner. Performed by Sara Gurevich, Jenna Purcell, Zoe Rabinowitz and Anne Zuerner. Music by Galen Bremer. Photo by Steven Schreiber.

bound, an evening-length performance by Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre, performed on May 6, 2016 at EL Rio Theatre  in Tunis, Tunisia as part of the Spring Festival.

Work in progress performances with Sara Gurevich at Triskelion Arts, part of the WAXworks Showcase on January 3, 2016, and Eden's Expressway, as part of Movement Research's Open Performance Series on December 22, 2015.

bound is an evening length multimedia performance by Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre. Performed October 18, 2015 at the Seoul International Dance Festival in Seoul, South Korea as part of YSDT's 10th Anniversary season. 

A duet for two dancers and two bicycles choreographed by Zoe Rabinowitz. Performed by Lena Lauer and Zoe Rabinowitz from May 21-24, 2015 at the West End Theatre as part of the Soaking WET Series. be-seek-let was commissioned by Women in Motion and supported in part by public funds from the Manhattan Community Arts Fund, supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.