Composed by Zad Moultaka for Yalda Younes, this piece was created in Beirut on June 2nd 2006 to mark the first anniversary of the assasination of Lebanese journalist Samir Kassir. In a violent requisitory against war, Younes embodies both the trauma and the resistance, engaging in a nine 9 minutes ritualistic combat between her zapateado and electrouacoustically treated recordings of bombshells, that Moultaka collected from his parents’ archives.
The piece took an even more painful turn with the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in July of the same year, when present day terror caught up with the memory of the past. A few months into touring, Younes sent the performance’s footage to her dance teacher Israel Galvan, alongside a letter where she shares her paradoxical feelings in regards to the act of performance in times of war. Both letter and footage ended up in the opening scene of Galvan’s El Final De Este Estado de Cosas Redux, which toured internationally.
original idea, electroacoustic composition Zad Moultak dance Yalda Younes, with steps from Israel Galvan costume Rabih Kayrouz duration 9 min
"Quant au Non de la Libanaise Yalda Younès, il est inouï. En neuf minutes, cet inédit laisse l'impression d'un cyclone. La pièce, écrite en hommage à Samir Kassir, historien et journaliste libanais assassiné le 2 juin 2005, dresse un corps homme-femme-cheval comme sait si bien le faire le flamenco quand il ne se prend pas les pieds dans une robe à pois."
Libération, Fr
“By forcing the virtuoso performance into close proximity to mechanized warfare, it underlines its essential fragility. The intensity of Younes’ performance resides in its struggle to sublimate recorded destruction as art.”
The Daily Star, LB
“La danseuse devient l’icône vibrante de l’âme humaine, confrontée aux éclats d’obus, aux clameurs et aux explosions des bombardements... Cette pièce, qui dure 9 minutes, nous transporte dans un univers intérieur et profond, une secousse de mémoire et de conscience.”
Averroes, FR
"NO" pushes the form to the edge of its possibilities while deconstructing it on several levels. Replacing the living accompaniment with a pre-recorded - and, more importantly, non-human and life-destroying - one harnesses flamenco to a more intense emotional engine than the human voice. By forcing the virtuoso performance into close proximity to mechanized warfare, it underlines its essential fragility.
The Daily Star, LB
Libération, Fr
“By forcing the virtuoso performance into close proximity to mechanized warfare, it underlines its essential fragility. The intensity of Younes’ performance resides in its struggle to sublimate recorded destruction as art.”
The Daily Star, LB
“La danseuse devient l’icône vibrante de l’âme humaine, confrontée aux éclats d’obus, aux clameurs et aux explosions des bombardements... Cette pièce, qui dure 9 minutes, nous transporte dans un univers intérieur et profond, une secousse de mémoire et de conscience.”
Averroes, FR
"NO" pushes the form to the edge of its possibilities while deconstructing it on several levels. Replacing the living accompaniment with a pre-recorded - and, more importantly, non-human and life-destroying - one harnesses flamenco to a more intense emotional engine than the human voice. By forcing the virtuoso performance into close proximity to mechanized warfare, it underlines its essential fragility.
The Daily Star, LB
Tour dates
20-21.07.2009
20-21.07.2009
Festival d’Avignon, Chapelle des Pénitents Blancs, Avignon
11.11.2008
Festival Jazz Nomade, Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord
07.06.2008
Paris Festival Climats, Théâtre de la Cité Internationale
19.05.2008
Festival Temps de Paroles, Le Bel Image, Valence
04.05.2008
Spring Festival, El Gomhoriya Theatre, Cairo
02.05.2008
Spring Festival, Sunflower Theatre, Beirut
15.03.2008
Festival Sons de Plateaux, GRIM, Marseille
07-08.03.2008
Antipodes, Le Quartz - Scène Nationale de Brest
09.12.2007
Festival Voix de Femmes, Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain, Liège
23-24.11.2007
38è Rugissants, Hexagone, Scène nationale de Meylan, Grenoble
16.11.2007
Théâtre de la Méditerranée, Toulon
13.10.2007
Festival iDANS, Istanbul
20.01.2007
2732 km from Beirut, Theatre Hebbel, Berlin
12.12.2006
Prix Reporters Sans Frontières, Espace Electra, Paris
10.11.2006
Rencontres d’Averroès, Marseille
22.10.2006
Vivat Liban, Théâtre National de Chaillot, Paris
20-21.10.2006
L’Atelier du Plateau Fait Son Cirque, Paris
20-24.09.2006
Metropolis Cinema, Beirut
08.08.2006
Fondation Royaumont, Asnières sur Oise
27-28.07.2006
Rencontres Internationales de Flamenco de Sanlucar, Cadiz
02.06.2006
Samir Kassir square, Beirut (CREATION)