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: Losing It
South China Morning Post, January 2024
““Samaa is fighting for her life on stage, which is one of the most beautiful things – it’s just to get balanced on a rope, but something about the effort she exerts is relentless. She won’t stop. She keeps going in the dark. She doesn’t give up.
“The mix of grace and strength is so gripping. It’s in your face. It’s not delicate, but it’s also not violent.”” – Samar Haddad King
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
Preview: Losing It: Double State of Emergency (June 2023)
Thinking Dance
Interview: A Shared Rhythm with Palestinian Dancer Mohammed Smahneh (January 2023)
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
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)
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)
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)