This month’s theme is Folklore so we thought: Let’s Dance!

Together Iris Loos and Tamer Alalloush founded the Dreaming of Syria Foundation. Their mission is to celebrate the true colours and culture of Syria.

Back in 2015, many people from Syria -including Tamer himself- arrived in the city of Utrecht and both Tamer and Iris wanted to build bridges and stimulate encounters between people who are new to the Netherlands and people who have lived here for some time.

While the media was mostly talking about a ‘refugee crisis’, they set out to create valuable encounters and shed light on more personal stories. This resulted in hundreds of projects, from clothing collections to an on- and offline community - with about 5000 members by now - and a music and culture festival called 'Dreaming of Syria’.

That festival was the start of now well-known and successful dance evenings: Dabke Nights. 

Dabke Nights focuses on the folklore dance 'dabke’: a dance that is often danced in the Middle East, in countries such as Palestine, Syria and Lebanon. Dabke Nights are regularly organised in pop venues such as TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht and Paard in The Hague.

Iris and Tamer also give Dabke workshops throughout the country, and now for us at Creative Mornings Utrecht. Not only will Iris and Tamer talk about Dabke and their experiences, they will also teach how to dance!

During this CreativeMornings, Iris and Tamer we will share the things they learned over the years. After that we will put aside the tables and chairs. And dance!

In style with the theme and to add on to the experience we will be hosting this Creative Mornings event at A Beautiful Mess.

 30 years ago, an asylum seekers’ centre was established here in the former hospital on Joseph Haydnlaan. In collaboration with Refugee Company, a meeting place/community café started at this special location. The trainees are all residents of the centre. Here they will find a free and safe space to work with a team and to practice with hospitality. They are part of the kitchen team or the service staff, learn Dutch and become stronger.

Address
Joseph Haydnlaan 2
3533 AE Utrecht