YSDT in the News
Feature: Gathering: New York City
The New York Times, June 2024
“The braided stories in “Gathering” span the intimate and the epic. Samaa Wakim plays Isra, a teacher who is trying to remember what has happened to her and her family. The text, written by King, has a surreal quality that oscillates between memories of an explosion on the day of Isra’s wedding and facts from science lessons she once taught. Personal revelation exists alongside the land speed of ostriches.” – Candice Thompson
Feature: How two Palestinian artists are changing contemporary performance
Dazed, December 2024
“In Losing It, that dream is both deeply personal and undoubtedly universal. It’s about navigating a chaotic world, finding moments of balance, and imagining futures where art becomes a bridge between the past and what’s yet to come.”
Feature: The Palestinian and New York-based company subverting audience expectations
Arab News, March 2023
Is dance a form of resistance? While the company’s work is not necessarily ideological, “there is something about raising your voice and our story being told, and maybe being told in a different way,” says Haddad King. “Just being seen, just screaming out, talking it out, dancing it out is political. We are politicized.”
Critic’s Pick Review: Last Ward
The New York Times, May 2022
“The inextricable connection between life and death is what Last Ward understands. The connection between words and dance, too.” – Brian Seibert
Textur Buero
Feature: Losing It: South China Post (January 2024)
Rue89 Bordeaux
Interview: Le théâtre est un lieu de solidarité (October 2025)
Thinking Dance
Review: Last Ward: Fold, Lose, Clean, Speak, Bury (May 2022)
DIY Dancer
Feature: We Live in Cairo: Samar Hadad King choreographs The Arab Spring (May 2019)
Hyperallergic
Review: Dancing Across Borders, Blurring the Line Between Hunter and Hunted (June 2018)
Dance Magazine
Feature: What’s it like dancing between Palestine and New York City? (June 2017)
More Coverage
Review: Mariage reporté pour cause de guerre, un récit de la résilience palestinienne sur les planches françaises (L’Orient-Le Jour, October 2025)
Review: FAB 2025 Gathering Leur terre – celle de Palestine – promise… à d’autres… Heurs et malheurs d’un peuple à la recherche de ses territoires confisqués (La Revue du Spectacle, October 2025)
Review: Et la terre se transmet comme la danse (I/O Gazette, October 2025)
Feature: Gathering, le FAB invite en première française l’artiste américano-palestinienne Samar Haddad King (Les Inrocks, October 2025)
Review: Gathering, le rassemblement éphémère de Samar Haddad King (Sceneweb, October 2025)
Feature: ‘Le lieu et l’accueil sont très sympas:’ Une compagnie cosmopolite actuellement en résidence au Grand Jeu de Dignac (Charente Libre, October 2025)
Feature: Bordeaux: une chorégraphe américano-palestinienne rend hommage aux personnes confrontées à la guerre, (BFMTV, October 2025)
Feature: 9 Shows to Add to Your October Performance Slate (Dance Magazine, October 2025)
Interview: L’art rappelle que nos vies comptent (Le Type, September 2025)
Interview: Sleepless nights with Samar Haddad King (Voices on the Side, July 2025)
Feature: Losing It gives Palestinians back their humanity (Dance Insider, February 2025)
Feature: Irish artists raise voices for US medics aiding Gaza child victims. (The Irish Echo, February 2025)
Interview: Samaa Wakim & Samar Haddad King (L’humanite, January 2025)
Interview: Samaa Wakim & Samar Haddad King (MA Culture, October 2024)
Review: Trauma informed dance that makes physical the anguish of conflict. (Alan in Belfast, October 2024)
Feature: Losing It (L’humanite, September 2024)
Feature: Losing It: In Lille, Contemporary Latitudes takes us on a journey. (Resmusica, July 2024)
Feature: Gathering: New York City: Palestinian oranges fill New York with fragrance in a dance performance choreographed by Samar Haddad King. (AAWSAT, June 2024)
Feature: Losing It: We listen to the war in Palestine and its effect on our bodies. (il Manifesto, May 2024)
Preview: Losing It: Double State of Emergency (June 2023)
Review: Losing It: Dancing on the border (Tiroler Tageszeitung, April 2023)
Interview: Samar Haddad King in conversation with Eva Yaa Asantewaa (Body & Soul, March 2023)
Interview: A Shared Rhythm with Palestinian Dancer Mohammed Smahneh (Thinking Dance, January 2023)
Preview: The 2nd edition of the Breaking Walls Dance Film Festival kicks off with 26 films (Egypt Today, January 2023)
Preview: Last Ward follows one man’s final journey (Time Out Abu Dhabi, February 2023)
Review: When the waves have come and gone (La Provence, September 2021)
Review: Distancing Elides in 3 x 13, Yaa Samar!’s Outstanding Multinational Film (Thinking Dance, February 2021)
Preview: 3 x 13 & Interview with Samar Haddad King (Al Ahram Hebdo, February 2021)
Feature: Is it actually possible to choreograph remotely? (Dance Magazine, August 2018)
Review: The Keeper (Ubiquité Culture(s), June 2018)
Interview with Samar Haddad King, Zoe Rabinowitz, and Amir Nizar Zuabi (Aspen Public Radio, April 2018)
Interview: Dance Initiative Director Peter Gilbert and Megan Tackett (KDNK Community Radio, April 2018)
Feature: Carbondale residency is dance troupe’s first all together in U.S. (The Sopris Sun, April 2018)
Feature: What It’s Like Dancing Between Palestine and New York City, (Dance Magazine, June 2017)
Review: Against a Hard Surface (Thalia Theater Blog, June 2017)
Feature: Dance as Discourse in Palestine (Stance on Dance, June 2017)
Review: Against a Hard Surface (Hamburger Adenblatt, June 2017)
Feature: Dance as Political Act (Theater Development Fund, May 2017)
Review: Watching the Lonely Crowd: Ramallah Festival of Video Art & Performance (Ibraaz, September 2013)
Feature: Life, Love, Technology, and Dance: Where Personal Narrative Meets Art (Huffington Post, February 2011)