An Israeli choreographer, full of good intentions, chooses an Arab dancer – the only one he knows – to create a piece conveying a message of coexistence, brotherhood and peace. The choreographer talks and talks and talks, spouting clichés and hackneyed ideas on matters of culture, politics and religion. The dancer remains silent. Inevitably the tension rises. And then they begin to dance, an unlikely duo, sensual, symbolic and potentially explosive…
At the crossroads of theatre and dance, We Love Arabs offers us a demonstration, sometimes hilarious, sometimes provocative, of the ever-present power dynamics on stage, in the wings and beyond. A declaratory work on the beauty and complexity of the encounters with The Other, undoubtedly more powerful than many a peace treaty.
Presented in partnership with The Dance Centre
Production Hillel Kogan (Israel)
Text and choreography Hillel Kogan
Cast Hillel Kogan & Mourad Bouayad
Lighting design Amir Castro
Music Kazem Alsaher, W.A.Mozart
Artistic advisors Inbal Yaacobi & Rotem Tashach
French translation Talia De Vries
Booking Drôles de Dames (France)
- We Love Arabs: accomplished satire offers food (and hummus) for thought (The Conversation)
- We love Arabs - Dance Review (The Jerusalem Post)
- We Love Arabs: interview with choreographer Hillel Kogan
- In We Love Arabs, Hillel Kogan poses uncomfortable questions with self-effacing laughter (Stir)
- Dance review: Israeli artist Hillel Kogan's We Love Arabs proves hilariously provocative (Stir)
