Workshops, Intensives, and Master Classes
This workshop is designed for experienced dancers, choreographers, and anyone who is interested in deepening their understanding of traditional Palestinian dabke, including dalouneh and tayara.
Thursday, September 10, 6:30-8:00pm
Dancers from El-Funoun, the premier Palestinian dance group based in Ramallah, will be visiting Minnesota again on their tour of the United States in September 2026 to carry out a series of dabke workshops for beginners and advanced dancers. These gatherings promise to provide a rare opportunity for participants to learn more about the vital Palestinian art form of dabke, develop dabke skills, and make connections with community members.
El-Funoun’s work merges dynamic dance, storytelling, and audience participation to offer an intimate window into the lives and legacies of El-Funoun’s dancers. Through the voices and movements of five performers, stories of long-time members unfold, tracing cultural roots across generations, from parent to child. More than a performance, this is a living archive of memory, identity, and the enduring spirit of dabke as both resistance and celebration.
We are asking a sliding scale fee of $25-$50 per class as well as for audience members of the Thursday performance. Nobody will be turned away for lack of funds. This is the minimum registration ask, but we encourage you to be much, much more generous if you are able. Funds will go directly to support El-Funoun’s ongoing work in Palestine and worldwide to keep Palestinian dance, music, and culture alive and thriving. Class registration comes with a promo code for a free ticket to the El-Funoun Performance on Friday or Saturday night.