Tunisia


Tunis, Tunisia

Tunis, Tunisia

Battery Dance Company worked and performed here in March 2004.


Dates

  • March 17-23, 2004

    Sponsors

  • U.S. Embassy Tunisia

    Partners

    • National Circus School of Tunisia
    • Modern Dance Company of Syhem Belhoja

    Project Specifics

    • Press Conference With Battery Dance Company and Local Tunisians
    • BDC Performance at the Municipal Theatre Tunis to over 500 people (also aired on Tunisian TV)
    • Question and Answer Session With BDC Director, Jonathan Hollander

    Venues

  • Municipal Theater, Tunisia

  • In March 2004 the Battery Dance Company gave two dazzling performances and conducted several workshops in Tunisia.

    In Tunis, the group ran workshops over two days with the National Circus School, and the modern dance company of Syhem Belhoja. They gave a performance on March 19 at the Municipal Theatre, a beaux-arts jewel built in 1906, for over 500 people. A mix of invited and paying guests, the Tunis crowd was particularly appreciative of the mix of live music with dance. Students in particular were very enthusiastic about the performances.

    In Tunis, BDC's percussionist Yousif Sheronick met with some of Tunisia's leading musicians. The group began their stay with a press conference, and the Artistic Director Jonathan Hollander also gave several interviews during the March 19 performance. The diverse origins of the group were often noted.

    Battery Dance Company was covered widely in the print media, and was featured on the radio and TV. Tickets were given away on the new private station Radio Mosaique, and a tape from the March 19 performance was aired on a special cultural program on Tunisian TV on March 22. Ambassador Hudson hosted the group for a farewell reception on March 22, at which diplomatic, artistic and media contacts all congratulated BDC for their role as cultural ambassadors.

    Tunisia 2004

    Sfax, Tunisia
    Tunis, Tunisia

    Sfax, Tunisia

    Sfax, Tunisia

    Battery Dance Company worked and performed here in 2004.


    Dates

  • March 17-24,2004

    Sponsors

  • U.S. Embassy Tunisia

    Partners

    • National Circus School of Tunisia
    • Modern Dance Company of Syhem Belhoja

    Project Specifics

  • Press Conference With Battery Dance Company and Local Tunisians
  • BDC Performance at the Municipal Theatre Sfax to 350 people
  • Question and Answer Session With BDC Director, Jonathan Hollander

    Venues

  • Municipal Theater, Tunisia

  • In Sfax, Battery Dance Company performed for around 350 people at the Municipal Theatre, as the first event celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the theater. The crowd was again largely young, and they whistled, clapped and stomped their approval. The excitement generated by the group was captured in one article with the headline (in English) "Go, Go, Go!" that reviewed their performance.

    Several told PA afterward they had never seen anything like it. The size of the audience in Sfax was noteworthy in that BDC performed on a Sunday during a national holiday. The response of audiences to the group was fabulous. For example, in Sfax, just announcing that the group was coming from New York City produced applause.

    In Sfax some of the musicians with the group led to BDC holding a workshop with 25 students at the Higher Institute of Music.

    Tunisia 2004

    Sfax, Tunisia
    Tunis, Tunisia