13/10/2026
Part of Belfast International Arts Festival 2026
The Light Within & Tá Brón Orm
Shaymaa Shoukry / Northern Attitudes Dance Company
As part of BIAF’s dance exchange Our Voice Together Now with Orient Productions in Egypt and Sareyyet Ramallah in Palestine, we present a double bill by choreographers Michael McEvoy and Shaymaa Shoukry.
The Light Within
Shaymaa Shoukry’s The Light Within explores the notion of inner light. How do we continue to shine in dark times?
Three dancers move between light and shadow, drawing on the traditions of Palestinian dabke – a dance rooted in community, resilience and connection to the land. Set to an original live score by Ahmed Salah that weaves together Palestinian and Egyptian musical tradition, The Light Within is a powerful reflection on solidarity and the hope we find in one another.
Performed by Besan Ja’ara, Hanin Tarik, and Nibal AbuDan with choreography assistance from Nowwar Salem.
Tá Brón Orm
Tá Brón Orm begins in an Ireland that never recovered. In a reimagined reality where The Great Famine erased its people and its stories, we witness the last mythical beings of the island take their final breath.
Drawn from three short tales written by Michael McEvoy, of the Banshee, the Siren, and the Hunger Fields, and inspired by the Children of the Famine trilogy by author Marita Conlon-McKenna.
Performed by Ahmed Ghareeb, Sara Gabr and Shady Abdelrahman, Tá Brón Orm traces the remnants of a world on the edge of disappearance.
Set to the contemporary Irish soundscape of ØXN, the piece moves like a story half-remembered: a culture slipping into shadow, a sorrow carried in the body.
