Open Call: Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre

Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre (YSDT) creates invigorating performance and education programs that expand access to—and promote understanding through—the arts, rooted in the belief that art should be liberating, transformative, and accessible to all. Founded in 2005 by Samar Haddad King, YSDT has a repertoire of 30+ original works performed across NYC, regionally, and abroad in 18 countries across four continents. Since 2011, the company has worked transnationally between NYC and Palestine, and is committed to uniting diverse artists and audiences in the creative process. For more information, visit www.ysdt.org.

Samar Haddad King (she/her), Artistic/Founding Director of YSDT, graduated from the Ailey/Fordham BFA program under the tutelage of Kazuko Hirabayashi. Her work has been performed in 19 countries on four continents, with commissions throughout the US and abroad including Hong Kong Arts Festival (Hong Kong), Hubbard Street 2 (Chicago), Ramallah Contemporary Dance Festival (Ramallah), The Walk/St. Ann’s Warehouse (New York), Good Chance Theatre (Marseille), and others. Awards and fellowships include the Prix des Jeunes Créateurs Palestiniens pour la Diversité des Expressions Artistiques (Palest’In & Out Festival, Paris), La Fabrique Chaillot Residency (Chaillot – Théâtre national de la Danse, Paris), The Center for Ballet and the Arts at NYU, and Toulmin Creator (CBA/National Sawdust, NYC). Theater and musical theater credits include Dead Are My People (Noor Theatre, NYC) and We Live in Cairo (American Repertory Theater, Boston). She is a 2023 Creative Capital Wild Futures: Art, Culture, Impact awardee for her new multidisciplinary project Radio Act.

Muaz Aljubeh is a Jerusalem-based, Palestinian lighting designer who has been working in the field since 1995. He is the technical director for Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre, The Walk, Khashabi Theatre and the Ramallah Contemporary Dance Festival. He was the technical director for Al-Kasaba Theatre and Cinematheque (Ramallah, Palestine) for almost 20 years. He has created light for more than 30 Palestinian productions, which have toured nationally and internationally. His work has been seen in notable theaters and festivals such as Tokyo Art International Festival (Japan), Carthage Theatrical Days Festival (Tunisia), Young Vic Theatre (United Kingdom), Avignon Festival (France), and l'Institut du Monde Arab (France).

Waseem Alzer has been a performer and teaching artist with YSDT since 2022. He firmly believes in the transformative power of theater to change the world. Alzer stands in solidarity with The Freedom Theatre in Jenin, Palestine, and is amplifying Palestine Children’s Relief Fund’s NYC Chapter call for volunteers (@PCRF_NYC).

Aya Aziz is a composer and performing artist from NYC. Her work examines diaspora, migration, power, and belonging. Her musical, Eh Dah? Questions for my Father, premiered at New York Theatre Workshop in 2019. She is a recent graduate of The Public Theater Emerging Writers Group, a former fellow at the Dramatists Guild Foundation, and is currently working on her debut album. She is also composing and music directing the beautiful House of Telescopes, which opened in March! She lives in Ridgewood, Queens with her royal Tabbycat Tessie.

Nicole Baker is a NYC-based artist and most recently joined the cast of The Walk Production/Handspring Puppet Company’s The Walk with Little Amal as a puppeteer. Her commercial credits include Rowenta fans, Hershey Park, Graco Strollers, Hendrick’s Gin, an exclusive industrial with choreographer Nikos Lagousakos in the Aditya Birla Group Awards, a PBS ALL ARTS Climate Artists Series where her work with Eryc Taylor Dance was a featured episode, and a performer in Amazon’s The Marvelous Ms. Maisel. Baker has also worked for project-based choreographers Jaclyn Walsh (KEIGWIN + COMPANY), Chris Bell, Amy Marshall, Joelle Consentino, Eryc Taylor, and MaryJohn Frank. Baker has developed her own unique style as a choreographer, with her works being showcased nationally and internationally. Her most recent work was performed at the Avant Garde Contemporary Dance Festival in Mérida, Mexico, at the Teatro José Peón Contreras.

Originally from Rome, Italy, Frances Caperchi moved to the United States in her early twenties for university and to pursue her professional goals. Since then, she has spearheaded projects in the US and globally. She worked five years producing outdoor public arts and culture programs in downtown Manhattan with the Battery Park City Authority and had the good fortune of working with musicians, dancers, and theater companies from across the world. She now commits her time to production work, creating programming and curating for a variety of local and international projects. In 2023 Caperchi joined The Walk productions and toured with Little Amal, the 12-foot 10-year-old Syrian refugee girl puppet, across the US. In 2021 Frances launched her own project, Salaria Productions and the Sali Tropicali event series that showcases artists and chefs from around the world. Each event is a unique journey that explores the space where tradition meets the contemporary in food and music.

Sebastian Charles trained in physical theater at East 15 Acting School and was nominated for the Spotlight Prize in 2014. His work in theater includes puppeteer for Amal in The Walk, produced by Good Chance and Handspring Puppet; Company (UK, Europe, and New York); puppeteer in Life of Pi and Ocean at the End of the Lane (West End); puppeteer and cover for Aslan in Sally Cookson’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; Topthorn Heart in War Horse’s National Theatre tour; Narrator in Sleeping Beauty with English National Ballet; A Clockwork Orange for Action to the Word at Park Theatre; Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the National Theatre’s River Stage and at Latitude; lead singer in Gobsmacked The Show on an international tour; Club Red for Highly Sprung Performance Company; Humming Bird for Imagineer Productions; and 60 Hugs for Frantic Assembly. TV work includes the lead role of Red Sharkey in Half Moon Investigations (BBC) and various guest lead roles in Doctors (BBC).

Joshua Leon Eguia is a dancer and choreographer based in NYC. He has collaborated in the creation of original roles including with Vladimir Varnava for the International Touring Production of Natalia Osipova’s Isadora. Eguia has danced with artists and companies including Karole Armitage, the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, Alison Clancy, MinuteZero, Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center, Bill T. Jones, Marc Jacobs, VRSNL, and Arthur Aviles Typical Dance Theatre.

Born in Malaysia and raised in Kuwait, Dahlia Khair grew up outside of the US as a Palestinian-Malaysian expat with her family. After receiving her BS in biology from the University of North Carolina, she moved to New York City, working as an artist with United Talent Agency. She has had the opportunity to work with choreographers such as Mandy Moore, Tanisha Scott, Brian Friedman, Charm LaDonna, Luam Keflezy, and more! Khair has also been featured in GQ Middle East, Paper Magazine, National Geographic, and Schön Magazine as an upcoming artist, and has most recently been awarded the GALLIM Moving Artist Residency in 2022. As an artist she tends to favor a variety of mediums. Using kinesthetics as a foundation, she implements technology, spoken word, and theatrics to form experiences that are immersive as well as accessible.

Nancy Mkaabal, a Palestinian artist based in Haifa, is known for her work as a stage and costume designer, musician, and creative collaborator. She began her artistic journey with a bachelor’s degree in the arts from Tel Aviv University, followed by a master’s degree in theater arts design from the same institution. During her studies, Mkaabal contributed to notable projects like MILK, where she served as an assistant designer and props maker at the Khashabi Theatre in Haifa, in collaboration with the Avignon Festival in France. In addition to her theater work, Mkaabal has made significant contributions to film, commercials, and fashion photography. She has also showcased her talent as an art director and video editor for music videos, such as Ya Saket by Hawa Dafi.

Yukari Osaka is originally from Kobe, Japan. Osaka began her dance career at Sadamatsu-Hamada Ballet in Japan. She has danced for Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre as a founding member since 2005. Osaka has appeared in various dance/theater festivals and productions including Dance Biennale Tokyo (Japan), Downtown Dance Festival (NYC), Ramallah Contemporary Dance Festival (Palestine), the opera Les Contes D’Hoffmann at the Metropolitan Opera, and the musical Phantom of the Opera among others. She is also a director of ENTERART, a dance performance project based in Kobe. Osaka recently co-directed a performance at the renewal opening ceremony of the most traffic-filled Sankita Plaza in Kobe. YukariOsaka.com

Zoe Rabinowitz is the executive director and a founding member of Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre. Originally from Vermont, Rabinowitz graduated from the Walnut Hill School for the Arts before earning her BFA in Dance from the Ailey/Fordham BFA program, with additional studies at De Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten (Netherlands). She has performed with artists including INSPIRIT: a dance company, JoAnna Mendl Shaw/Equus Projects, MBDance, The Movement Party, Nia Love/Blacksmith’s Daughter, Urban Bush Women, and Anne Zuerner. Her own work for stage and film has been presented throughout the US, and abroad in Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Mexico, and South Korea. In recognition of her work as a leader in the nonprofit field, Rabinowitz was awarded a 2020 NYFA Emerging Leaders Fellowship and selected as a New York Community Trust Leadership Fellow in the same year.

Arzu Salman takes the dance floor thanks to the efforts of transgender, queer, and immigrant communities that preceded him. His dancing is a fervid and unbridled love letter to those who follow, and those who rest. Salman graduated from the Ailey/Fordham BFA Program in 2018. He is presently a performer and teaching artist with Ballez Company and Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre. Salman is grateful to partake in Gathering.

Andrea Salvatore is a consultant, researcher, and administrator with 20 years of experience in the nonprofit sector. From 2014 to 2023, she served as associate director of The Center for Ballet and the Arts at New York University where she developed and oversaw the fellowship program and public programs, collaborating with 200+ artists and scholars. From 2008 to 2014, Salvatore was the associate director at the Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy at Georgetown University where she developed a Fellows in Residency program and several research initiatives including Georgetown on the Hill, a series of of discussions of issues on current legislative agendas to foster collaboration and exchange among prominent academics, industry experts, business leaders, and policy makers. Salvatore held a variety of arts management positions in fundraising, event planning, artist services, and program management at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Joyce Theater, and the Brooklyn Museum. She holds a master’s degree from Georgetown University, a bachelor’s degree from Connecticut College, and an advanced certificate in nonprofit management from NYU Wagner School.

Mohammed Smahneh (Barges), a self-taught hip hop and contemporary dance artist, has won various breakdance battles in Palestine and performed in many international and local projects including Badke, a co-production between KVS, les ballets C de la B, A.M. Qattan Foundation (2013 – 16, Belgium); B choreographed by Koen Augustijnen and Rosalba Torres (2017 – 19, Belgium); Nomads Dance Camp directed by Dina Abu Hamdan with choreographers Jorge Crecis, Taoufiq Izzediou, and Samar Haddad King (2014, Jordan); Naji Ali with Botega Dance Company directed by Enzo Celli (2009, Italy); and was a champion in Floor Wars Battle (2012, Denmark). Smahneh has been a puppeteer for The Walk with Amal since 2022 and has been a member of YSDT since 2013.

Stephanie Sutherland (she/her) is a proud founding member of YSDT and is thrilled to be part of the production team as assistant director of Gathering. Previously, she served as rehearsal director and assistant to Samar Haddad King on YSDT’s collaboration with Little Amal’s The Walk NYC (2022). As a dancer/actor/singer, she has worked all over the world in dance, theater, film/tv, fashion, music, and comedy. Sutherland is also a certified intimacy director through IDC, movement director, and choreographer for theater, film, and opera. She is a graduate of the Fordham University/Alvin Ailey BFA program, and continues to work with Fordham as a guest lecturer. Highlights include: performing with YSDT; Jennifer Muller’s The Works; People, Places, & Things (off-Broadway); international tour of West Side Story with La Scala Opera; BodyStories Dance; and Grounded Aerial Dance Theater. She worked on intimacy direction and choreography for La Rondine, La Finta, Orphee, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Down the Road, The Wedding Gift, and Entertaining Mr. Sloane. For more information visit StephanieSutherland.com or @stephaniesland.

Samaa Wakim graduated from the acting department at Haifa University. She has performed in various local and international plays such as I Am Yusuf and This Is My Brother, a co-production of ShiberHur and the Young Vic theater in London (2009); The Beloved, a co-production of ShiberHur and the Bush Theater in London (2012); and in various film projects such as In Your Absence (2014). Dance credits include Cabaret at Khashabi Theatre (2018); Badke, a co-production between KVS, le ballets C de la B, and A.M. Qattan Foundation (2012 – 17); Modern Curses (choreography and performing, 2019); and with Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre since 2014. Wakim served as assistant director and performer with Min Tala, a pan-Arab dance company, in 2016.

Enrico Dau Yang Wey, from Taiwan, has presented work through Danspace Project, DTW (US), Conde Duque, CA2M (ES), and LMCC’s River to River Festival (US). They are a long-standing member of Handspring Puppet Company as cast in William Kentridge’s Il Ritorno d’Ulisse and in War Horse on Broadway. They were resident puppetry director for the German production of War Horse. They are puppetry director and artistic associate for all productions with The Walk/Little Amal. Other notable roles include Shulea Cheang’s 3x3x6 (2019 Venice Biennale Taiwan Pavilion), Dennis Cooper/Zac Farley’s feature film Like Cattle Towards Glow, and onstage for Robyn Orlin, Big Dance Theater, Ishmael Houston-Jones, and Rob Icke.

Ash Winkfield is a multidisciplinary artist working primarily in theater and the puppetry arts. Winkfield specializes in new and devised work presented in New York City, and has toured domestically and internationally with Basil Twist (Rite of Spring, Sister’s Follies,* Book of Mountains and Seas), *The Walk with Little Amal (NYC, Toronto, US Tour), and Mabou Mines (Animal Magnetism). Winkfield is passionate about creating work that speaks to the emotional experience of humanity in the face of injustice. Most recently they performed with Basil Twist’s Book of Mountains and Seas, Alva Rogers’ The Harlem Doll Palace, and The Walk with the Amal US Tour. Winkfield is currently based in New York City. Find out more about their recent projects at AshleyWinkfield.com.

Ellen Winter (any/all) is a composer, theatermaker, and teaching artist whose songwriting fuses theatrical storytelling with dreamy synths and a singular voice. She’s been on the music teams of Dave Malloy, The Bengsons, Heather Christian, Salty Brine, and Cesxr Alvarez, and produced music with Sara Barielles for The Story Pirates. Her hit song Mantras, off her debut record Every Feeling I’ve Ever Felt, rocked the #1 slot on In-Store Radio Charts for the better part of 2022 and last year, her cover of Paper Roses was featured in the Emmy-nominated Hulu show, Tiny Beautiful Things, starring Kathryn Hahn. In 2017 she co-composed/wrote/directed 36 Questions, the world’s first Broadway-caliber musical podcast starring Jonathan Groff (Merrily We Roll Along) and Jessie Shelton (Hadestown). Her work’s been featured in the New York Times, The Guardian, Marie Claire, Interview Magazine, MTV News, and Playbill. Winter is a recipient of the 2021 Bryan Gallace/Posthumous Prodigy Productions Musicians Fellowship and she’s had residencies with Joe’s Pub, Berkeley Rep, Mercury Store, Ars Nova, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, and BarnArts. She currently lives in Brooklyn with her collection of iridescent objects and her dog, Ruby. EllenWinter.com, @itsellenwinter