02/26/2026
Clinard Dance is pleased to be hosting STREETDABKA.Chicago for their Dabka Workshop! Saturday, February 28th from 8:00 PM – 9:30 PM at our home studio in Pilsen. This community workshop is open to everyone, no experience needed we’ll teach you the moves! Register through the link in our bio. We had the pleasure of catching up with Samer today and asked him about the history of Dabka:
“There are many stories about how Dabka emerged but it’s all about the relation between farmers and land. When you used to build the old houses, they mixed mud and sticks for the rooftops. They had to stomp on this and it needed more than one person, so they’d do it together. There is a story [that] while they were planting seeds in the large fields they would stomp on the seeds to make them settle in the soil...The lyrics change, sometimes it’s about love, sometimes about missing people who immigrate outside of the homeland, or about weddings. For me, what makes Dabka special is it is a collective dance that makes people feel each other and connect. It’s about sharing energy and accepting each other. The moment you decide to hold hands, that means ‘okay, I accept you.’ I also want to share my culture, because people always hear pains or a sad story about Palestine. Sometimes I want to share some beautiful things, like how we celebrate, how we express ourselves, how we live.”