Descending from Below by Angela Aldebs

Descending from Below is a dance-theater performance exploring what the body inherits before it has the chance to choose in societies where identity is deeply shaped by political, religious, and sectarian structures. This project journeys through rituals rooted in the Arab region, moving between their beauty, spirituality, and sense of togetherness, and their darker potential for obedience, exclusion, and violence. Through movement, repetition, live camera, and archival imagery, the performer enters a process of confronting what her body has inherited. The audience becomes part of this journey, shifting between observer and participant. Together, they enter a temporary ritual where the boundaries between individual and group begin to blur. As the inherited rituals are repeated, disrupted, and dismantled by the performer, she searches for a ritual of her own—one that allows her to belong without surrendering herself, and to find a way to create dialogue instead of rejection and solitude. Credits: Director and choreographer: Sarah Almoneem Performer: Angela Aldebs  Associate Director: Sarah Mashmoushy Scenography & Video Design: Fares Khleif