Introduction and what will we actually do?

The story, pain, and trauma we contain in our body are not just our own: it is heavily influenced by social and political issues in the world, by our family history, and by our roots.

We will embody and improvise on social and political issues we care about through tools I used in my dance creation process in the last years that helped me create my dance solo "اثنين שתיים" and “Divide and Conquer” my latest creation about gender and politics.

We will come together as a diverse group from different backgrounds and each of you will create a political dance performance piece alone or as a duet. For people participating for the first days you will go through more of an emotional/dance process and less of a creation process, the continuing group will dive deeper.

One week process - Background needed / Pre-requisite / Level: advanced dance or theatre improv - you need to be able to have the confidence to make a dance/performance creation in one week if this is your first time you create but you’re advanced in dance do not be deterred - let’s make it.

shorter workshop - Background needed / Pre-requisite / Level: at least basic improvisation experience is recommended, I’ve also seen complete beginners dive deep into this process without much background than knowing just to dance, write me if you’re not sure.

How did this start?

This workshop originated and started in Geneva with Saed and Héloïse Dell'Ava as a week-long process of solo creation of political and social significance.

Pricing:
Two payments one for me and one for the venue that is giving me residency

Workshop price (one week) 200-400 euro scaling price - there are scholarships for different helper roles were you just pay the food/stay fee - contact me at saed.mansour.movement@gmail.com and we will figure it out! I’m staring at 200 here to make it accessible for artists and people who cannot afford but I’d ask for more to keep my work sustainable from people who can at this moment.

Short version price: 100 for those who cannot afford, 200 full price.

Payment for stayover (including all the food you need):
Staying a week price in the venue: starting at 190 euros (bring your own tent)
For staying August 7-9: payment is 60 euros.

More accommodation options appear on the website (click on this thegarden.pt) you will need to email them after signing up if you need something more than bringing your tent (a room, a Tippi, tent renting, etc).

How much will you pay for example if you bring your tent for example in total for one week?
Workshop + Camping + Food: between 300-600 euros scaling as much as you can afford.

How much will you pay for example if you bring your tent for example in total for shorter version? 160-260 euro.

Signing up
Sign up link here

BANK transfer
Account holder: Said Mansour
BIC: TRWIBEB1XXX
IBAN: BE07 9672 5887 3966
Wise's address: Avenue Louise 54, Room S52
Brussels
1050
Belgium

How to get there?
You take a bus from Porto to Viana Dastelo (max 5 euro) then you take a private taxi to the Garden (10-20 euros). Once you arrive the garden team checks you in.

Schedule some important dates and times
On most normal days we will work from morning until evening from 9 to around 19:00. Except check-in and checkout days.
August 7 arrival - checkin after 13:00 (I’ll find the right time soon) and we start in the evening and do a 3 hour class
August 8: all day long
August 9 checkout at 11:00 for people coming in for the short version
August 13 - performance in the evening
August 14 checkout at 11:00

Emotional supporters
Do you have experience in supporting people or have training in therapy or other related emotional support be it basic or advanced? Write me a personal message so you can be available if someone needs 1-1 support in the workshop.

How do I choose a story/issue/conflict to work with?

You can choose a collective issue that is of personal connection to you: from your roots, ethnicity, race, or country. You can also choose a collective issue from another collective with a lot of sensitivity of how that other collective will feel towards you doing that. For example: a white person doing an act about Afrodescendant heritage needs to come with a great deal of awareness. In this space, we don’t want to over-provoke other people’s deep wounds - even though we believe in the act of provocation through art but in this particular space, we do want to be very sensitive towards the group that will work.

Homework and Interview (in the form)
Before coming to the workshop you need to come up with a written page in it you write a paragraph or two about a political or social issue that has touched your life personally (the deepest one you have). For example: your personal story with gender, women rights, abortion, immigraiton, war, violence, etc.

Further questions? saed.mansour.movement@gmail.com

Saed Mansour Bio

Saed is a Palestinian performance artist, dance teacher, and festival producer. At the moment, he nomads between Palestine and Europe. He aims to create spaces - be it as a performer, teacher, or festival producer - that focus on emotional, communal, and political processes.

Saed was born a Palestinian with an Israeli Citizenship (20 percent of the country's citizens are of such status), his life is political not by choice but is rooted deeply in his body and throughout the last generations. A big part of his journey of teaching and performing are about dealing and communicating with the wounds carried by this trauma for himself and others.

In 2020, he created a dance solo called "Ethneen Shtaieem" that explored the political and collective story of where he comes from. He did this while creating a ritual for himself and the audience. This solo eventually gave birth to the "Dancing the Political" workshop - a collaboration with choreographer Héloïse Dell'Ava in November 2022 in Geneva.

In 2024, he will be spending his time teaching in Palestine and Europe, choreographing a new performance piece: a duet about gender, and also producing two festivals.