Wherever you sow grain, the grain grows is a choreographic and musical piece led by Andrea De Siena and Luca Rossi, created through a collective process of exchanges with local participants. The work is a translation of their encounter with Bethlehem and its agrarian, musical, and dance traditions. The original music composition drew its inspiration from the traditional forms of the tammurriata or ballo e canto sul tamburo (the musical heritage of Campania linked to the worship and devotion to the Virgin Mary) and the dabka (the traditional Palestinian folk dance). In both of these traditions, the symbolic-gestural aspect is connected to the relationship of the body with the land. The choreography was based on these two choreutic and sound repertoires by reworking the elements directly connected with agriculture and working the land: the castagnette (musical instruments, made of olive wood, which accompany the steps of the tammurriata dancers), the wrist movements that simulate the gesture of sowing, and the arm movements used in cultivation. The piece was also informed by site visits to Bethlehem’s agricultural areas where the artists witnessed the impossibility of reaching one’s own olive trees, the difficulty of harvesting, the longing to be on one’s own land, the history that binds the community together, and the land’s profound cultural heritage. The majestic but painful presence of the olive trees created a visible horizon immediately familiar and shared. The olive tree is not the symbol of this work, it is the theme.
Links to: Final Performance and Process Documentation
Choreography: Andrea De Siena
Music: Luca Rossi
Dancers: Andrea De Siena, Emily Jacir, Momen Alqrby, Ali Khalid Obeid, Bakr Qaraqe, Lourian Ghnaim, Tamara Odeh, Elissa Mitwasi, Sandra Istefan, Lama Altakruri
Musicians: Luca Rossi, Nakhleh Sarras, Saif Hammash
Camera: Nurin Kaoud
Editing: Baha AbuShanab
Additional Footage: Nicola Tranquillo
Coordinators: Aline Khoury and Lina Bani Odeh
Special Thanks to Baha Hilo and Samer Barbari