Dance Dabke with Samir Hasan


Never forget the time I was playing the flute and my mother was drumming at an outdoor festival in Charleston, WV and a bunch of people started doing Dabke together. Or, I should say, were “trying” to do Dabke line dance together. The fact of the matter is, just like the teacher here mentions, they were from different countries and therefore had different ways of doing it. At one point all these young people stopped and laughed and asked each other what their respective countries of origin are. The answers varied from Iraq to Syria to Jordan to Saudi Arabia. It was quite interesting. They laughed about their differences but never really got the dance together. (My father and mother actually used to do a very old style Syrian Dabke you don’t see much any more).

The teacher here, Samir Hasan, seems very experienced and you can probably learn a lot from him.

Samir Hasan's bio is remarkable:

  • More than 100 Dabke performances and shows locally and internationally
  • Several multicultural and folklore festivals in many countries including Canada, France, Britain, Norway, Palestine and Jordan
  • Performed in front of thousands of attendees
  • Repeatedly represented Palestine on the international stage
  • Performed for French President Jacques Chirac in Paris, France
  • Performed for the President of the Palestinian Authorities, Yasir Arafat, minister of foreign affairs and minister of youth at the International day for women
  • Performed at the year 2000 celebration at the Nativity Church in Bethlehem, Palestine
  • Assisted and lead Dabke choreography for performances since 1999
  • Coached and trained Dabke students since 2001
  • Founder, president, and trainer of Al-Awda Dabke group established in July 2012

    • He's also won multiple awards from foreign governments.

    If you want to learn from someone in "the know"- he would be an excellent choice. To Dabke dance with confidence:

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