ARABURLESQUE
Dance Performance / Kampnagel, Hamburg / director, performer / 2017
A little baby boy crawls into a super nightclub. Beirut, Lebanon, 1984. The Civil War is about to end. His eyes are looking at everyone. They are people who long for a future with no war. Salome takes him off the ground and keeps him alive. She is the mother of the house, a mysterious woman and a natural dancer.
He lives with her in the back of the cabaret, in her little house and garden. One day she walks into the house and finds him wearing one of her outfits. She already knew that he likes dancing but at this moment she challenges him to dance with her in order to break his fear. That same day Salome presented me on the super nightclub’s stage to entertain her regular customers.
Nothing could make me happier than preparing myself to go on stage. I was always fascinated by the lights of the night. I was presented to a great and empowering audience. Unfortunately, there was no safe place in the city, not even the super nightclub. The religious militias wielded their power over everything. The super nightclub was shut down. Salome and I had to leave our place.
We lived isolated for a while after being the stars of the night. Now we were left alone with our memories. What happened can never be changed. We took our time to grieve, but we had to grow from the pain.
It was time for me to take care of her. I discovered a new audience in the end ...