Dana Dajani

Dana Dajani is an award-winning Palestinian actress and writer. Her performance as a visually impaired woman who regains her sight won her the "Best Actress" award at Tropfest Arabia 2011.[1] The film was co-scripted by her and screened at Cannes Short Film Corner in 2012.[2] Dana gained further acclaim for her activism for Palestine through artistic work, including her spoken-word poem "Love Letters from Palestine."[3]

Education and Early Career

Dana began her undergraduate career at the University of Kansas, acting in productions for Paul Lim’s English Alternative Theater (EAT).[4] After performing with EAT at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival,[5] and competing for the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship, Dana left KU and moved to Chicago to begin her professional career. During her semester off, Dana acted in a plethora of student short films in Chicago. Through these student directors, Dana discovered Columbia College Chicago. She transferred to the School of Theatre and graduated magna cum laude in May 2010 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Theater with an emphasis in acting.

During her time in the Windy City, Dana performed on many of Chicago’s "storefront" stages and participated in festivals such as Teatro Luna's 10x10, Rhinofest, and Abbiefest XXI & XXII. Dana's last main-stage performance in Chicago was in Adventure Stage Chicago's production of Sinbad: The Untold Tale, an action-packed play in which she fought using shamshir and rapier blades.[6]

Current career

In 2011, Dana moved to Dubai, where she quickly gained recognition for her performances in Arabic and English. On stage, Dana wrote and starred in Kalubela, winner of Time Out Dubai’s award for "Best Theatrical Performance of 2012".[7] Her short films have been in film festivals across the Middle East, garnering awards such as "Best Actress" in Tropfest 2011[8] and "Best Film" at the Arab Film Studio Competition 2013.[9] Later that same year, Dana was one of only two international artists invited to Australia to develop and perform a new work at the Sydney Opera House.[10] The play, Oneness: Voice Without Form was commissioned for the 150th anniversary of the birth of Swami Vivekenanda. Dana played 5 roles, including that of Sister Nevedita.

In addition to theatre and cinema, Dana is a celebrated event MC and presenter in Dubai. Drawing on her varied experience in comedy, poetry, and as a role-play facilitator for HR trainings, Dana is known for custom- creating corporate content which is eloquent, entertaining, and informative. Dana has participated in headlining corporate events as diverse as black-tie galas to a staff retreats. Clients include Coca Cola, Bridgestone, Etisalat, Damas, Johnson & Johnson, Bayt.com, Essilor and others.[11]

Spoken Word and Floetics

Dana is a published author and poet and can often be spotted performing her spoken-word poetry in a musical collaboration called Floetics. A freestyle riff on rhythm and rhyme, Floetics have performed at many premier music venues and festivals in Dubai such as SIKKA Art Fair, The Music Room, Jazz@Pizza Express, FORTOM- First Ladies (For The Love of Music), Dubai Yoga & Music Festival, Freshly Ground Sounds, and DIFC Art Night.[12]

Independently, Dana has recently collaborated with Dubai-based cellist and producer, Aaron Kim, to create an EP which fuses electronic sounds and poetry. The EP, "type two error" features 4 tracks and is available on iTunes.[13]

Work for Palestine

in 2013, Kharabeesh and Visualizing Palestine released a YouTube video called "The ACTUAL Truth about Palestine", in response to 3 propaganda videos created by the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, Danny Ayalon. The "ACTUAL Truth" video, featuring Dana Dajani and Lara Sawalha, went viral—garnering 300,000 views in a few weeks. Danny Ayalon responded to the video in a "Rebuttal."

A recording of the live performance of Dana's spoken word piece, "Love Letters from Palestine" also gained international attention. Dana recorded a poem-film of "Love Letters from Palestine" in Bethlehem, and released the film during Nakba Commemoration Day in May 2014.

Dana has organized pro-Palestinian events such as "This is Palestine" and "Recognizing Palestine" in Dubai. At the later event, Dana performed Caryl Chuchill's play for Gaza, Seven Jewish Children, and raised funds for the organization Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP).

Partial list of Films

Official Pages and Links

References

  1. ↑ "The Artiste Of The Middle East".
  2. ↑ "8 UAE Rising Trendsetters".
  3. ↑ "Dana Dajani in Re-Volt Magazine". RE-Volt Magazine (6): 48.
  4. ↑ "EAT review". English Alternative Theatre.
  5. ↑ "EAT at KCACTF". English Alternative Theatre.
  6. ↑ "Sinbad: The Untold Tale". Adventure Stage Chicago.
  7. ↑ "Kalubela: Best Theatrical Performance in Dubai 2012". Time Out Dubai.
  8. ↑ "Thousands flock for Tropfest Arabia". twofour54.
  9. ↑ "Dana Dajani IMDB".
  10. ↑ "Oneness: Voice Without Form". Oneness Website.
  11. ↑ "Dana Dajani event MC". Dana Dajani's portfolio.
  12. ↑ "Floetics". Dana Dajani's portfolio.
  13. ↑ "type two error on iTunes". iTunes.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Dana Dajani:Production and Performance Resumes" (PDF).
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