This solo is for you, Beirut

My friend and founder of Hearttohard, Marloes van Houten, is in need of fundraising for her upcoming project in Beirut, Lebanon.

The project in sum:

* a dance theatre performance (choreographed by Ahmad Joudeh, performed by Marloes, music by several Lebanese musicians)
* art/movement/music based trauma therapy workshops
* community art events.

The project is the start of a long term collaboration.

Minimum budget: 7.700 euro. With 15.000 euro we can also support several local humanitarian organisations and projects that provide emergency and basic need aid, and make a dance video + documentary.

About Marloes and the Hearttohard foundation
Dr. Marloes van Houten (1982) is a Dutch art director, professional dancer, choreographer and movement educator. She holds a PhD in trauma healing. While raised in the Netherlands, she lived, performed, led projects globally, also in crisis areas where war, conflict or natural disasters took place.

The foundation HeartToHard (H2H) aims to bring Heart (compassion) to places that are hardened and in need to be touched and transformed by Beauty. The mission operationalized through art & dance theatre projects, trauma therapy using art, movement and breath work, research, writing, and media outreach.

Why will she go to Beirut, Lebanon?
On top of the struggles Lebanon already faced, the pandemic made things worse. As if things could not get worse, on 4 August 2020 there was an catastrophic explosion that killed around 200, left 6.500 injured, and 250-300.000 homeless. The Lebanese population is furious at their government for storing the 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate carelessly. Six letters were sent between 2014 and 2017 by customs officials to the Beirut Urgent Matters Judge, requesting that the hazardous material be removed, but no action was taken.

Since the spring 2020 Lebanon has been on Marloes’ heart and she started to develop connections with the Lebanese community in the Netherlands and in Lebanon itself.  As she has come to know the Lebanese, they are highly versatile and resilient people. They learnt to support each other while the support of their government was lacking. The blast seemed to be the last straw that breaks the camel's back. Hope seems lost. Their dream of Beirut, of their country, of good things for their family to happen in the future vanished. Many want to leave, and try to find a way out.

What will she do in Beirut?
Marloes will perform a dance, choreographed by Ahmad Joudeh on the music of Lebanese musicians. The performance expresses the pain, grief and sorrow, and reconnects people to their strength and the belief that there is a hopeful future full. The performance will be staged in and around Beirut, for example in the outdoor on the ruins of Beirut. A local manager, Philippe Bachour, and several organizations she connected with are preparing and facilitating this initiative. The performance will be filmed so that it reaches a live and online audience.

Marloes will speak at several occasions, and run introductory workshops where art, music and movement are used to reach out to youth, adults and elderly, in the challenges they currently face. The workshops will be focussed on stress and anxiety release, community building, and for them to have fun so they can feel free for a moment of all the worries. In workshop activities will give the participants time to reflect and make space for their feelings in a safe environment. Also, a couple of breathing/movement and creative writing tools will be provided which the participants can continuously use in their life.

After evaluating the this three week project trip, continuous longer term projects and partnerships will be developed.

Planning:
- Prep for first exploration trip: Fall 2020 till Summer 2021
- In Lebanon: end of Summer / Autumn 2021
- Evaluation
- Develop projects and collaborations for the longer run


Special thanks to:

* Ahmad Joudeh (choreography & interview) 

* Philippe Bachour (vocals & Lebanon project manager)

* Eddy Abboud aka Midist (music producer)

* Marc Abou Naoum (recording & editing)

* Anna Smakman (photography)

* Mirjam van Kleef (BAAS Amsterdam - performance title)

* Manny Nickpour (camera & video editing)
www.hadokenproductions.com 

* Mohanad Shami (costume support)

* Marloes van Houten:
www.forgecollective.net 
http://www.hearttohard.nl/ 
https://www.instagram.com/doctordancer_nl