Lawrence community members gathered at the library Sunday for a taste of Palestinian culture and a visit from an all-female dance troupe.
Falestine “Fally” Afani Ruzik hosted the community dabke, or circle dance, to celebrate Palestinian culture. The all-female dabke group, Malikat al Dabke, or Queens of Dabke, came from Washington, D.C., to perform at the event.
“I was at an Arabic book store over the summer and couldn’t find any resources on Palestine that didn’t involve death and genocide,” Afani Ruzik said via email ahead of the event. “So I wanted to highlight all the beautiful aspects of our culture. We have food, dance and fashion aspects of our culture just like anyone else. Palestinian culture holds so much joy and I want to share it with everyone.”
Those in attendance got to learn about the origins of dabke, different steps and styles. Then they got to get up and dance themselves.
“We don’t do our art in isolation. We do our art to make sure people know that they can’t erase us,” one of the Queens of Dabke told those in attendance.
The event, announced in September, was funded through a Rocket Grant.
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Nathan Kramer (he/him), a multimedia student journalist for The Lawrence Times since August 2024, is a junior at Free State High School. He is also a video editor for Free State’s student publication, where he works as a videographer, photographer and motion designer. See more of his work for the Times here.
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