Abd Al Hadi Abunahleh is a choreographer, performance maker, cultural organizer.

Abd Al Hadi Abunahleh is the Artistic Director of dance company – Studio 8, the Artistic Director of dance festival – International Dance Encounter Amman (IDEA).

Abd has more than fifteen years of experience in dance performance and dance transmission in Jordan. In 2017, Abd completed an international master degree in Dance Knowledge, Practice, and Heritage in Clermont-Ferrand, France; Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway; University of Szeged (SZTE), Hungary; University of Roehampton, United Kingdom. He also holds a MIS (Management Information System) Diploma and a Bachelor degree in Business Administration (BA).

As the artistic director of Studio 8, the director of IDEA festival, Abd has made a significant contribution to Jordan’s performing art ecosystem: nurturing experimentation, creating and producing original art works, fostering the development of emerging artists, sparking dialogue and working closely with local communities.

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E D U C A T I O N

2015-2017 Choreomundus – Master in Dance Knowledge, Practice, and Heritage

Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
University of Szeged, Hungary
University of Clermont Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France
University of Roehampton, London, United Kingdom

Choreomundus was the first Erasmus Mundus Master’s program focusing especially on dance as Intangible Cultural Heritage. Erasmus Mundus is the scholarships and academic co-operation program of the European Union.

2013-2014 Business Administration, Bachelor, Al-Balqa’ Applied University, Jordan

2013-2011 Management Information System, Diploma, Amman College, Jordan

2014-Present

Co-founder, Artistic Director

Studio 8

Studio 8 began in 2014 as a small collaboration between two brothers, Abd Al Hadi and Anas Abunaleh—self-taught break-dancers from Jordan’s first street dance generation that began practicing in a refugee camp in Amman—and a visual artist and arts administrator from China, Xiomen Ren.

The three founders of Studio 8 experimented with site-specific performances and dance films, aspiring to one day share their works abroad. Simultaneously, they began developing incubation programs, mentorship opportunities, and financial support for emerging dancers. The company’s mission quickly crystallized: create an ecosystem for local dancers and put Jordan on the map for contemporary dance.

Studio 8 considers their research, capacity-building, and international exchanges as essential as their own creative productions. The company leads independent primarily research and mapping projects of the dance ecosystem to further guide their mission of capacity building for artists across the country. International exchange is centered at their biannual festival, the International Dance Encounter Amman (IDEA).

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C H O R E O G R A P H I C E X P E R I E N C E

2023 Artistic Director, Choreographer

Crossing – a dance piece that reflect the life of an artist in the time of pandemic.

• Performed at The Asia Culture Center, Gwangju, South Korea
• Performed at National Center For Culture & Arts, Al-shams Theater, International Dance Encounter Amman(IDEA), Amman, Jordan
• Performed at Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman, Jordan

2019 Artistic Director, Choreographer, Performer

Wujoud wa Hodoud – a 60-minute-multidisciplinary performance draw personal stories of land, nation, division and struggle into the body and voice of eight Arab artists, Amman, Jordan

• Performed in AUC Falaki Theater, Downtown Contemporary Arts Festival (D-CAF), Cairo, Egypt
• Performed National Center for Culture & Arts, Amman, Jordan
• Performed Al Hussein Cultural Center, Hakaya Festival, Amman, Jordan
• Performed Al-shams Theater, International Dance Encounter Amman(IDEA), Amman, Jordan

2019 Artistic Director, Choreographer
Time out of Time: A Special Place – a trans-disciplinary project that an interplay between a dynamic choreography and an audiovisual immersive environment in collaboration with Iranian/French visual artist Golnaz Behrouznia, and French sound artist Francois Donato.

2019 Artistic Director, Conceptualization
Mechanics of Movement – a live dance performance inspired by Laban movement analysis, with the Icosahedron forms the focal point of the piece, with four performers explore the underlying principles of movement, as part of the In/Out Festival curated and organized by Factory, an annual festival by Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts. The Icosahedron remains in the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts Park after the performance, constantly sending invitations to curious minds and wandering hands to hundreds of visitors from autumn 2019 till now.

2017 Choreographer, Performer
Hiwar – a 40-person, 75-minute feature performance with director Zahed Sultan, Omani dancers, a choir, a strings section, and a folk band, using technology, sound, movement, and light, to present a dynamic story about Oman’s importance as a gateway to and from the Arabian Gulf, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean.

2017 Artistic Director, Conceptualization
Space Harmony – a one-of-a-kind live dance performance with an interactive dancing installation. The live performance took place in Darat al Funun which is a cultural center surrounded by a garden and the ruins of a Byzantine church in the heart of Amman, Jordan. This performance had a long-lasting impact with more than a thousand people enjoying the experience of exploring and playing with the interactive dancing installation in a period of five months after the initial live performance.

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D A N C E E X P E R I E N C E

2019 Wujoud wa Hodoud – produced by Studio 8, directed by Abd Al Hadi Abunahleh, AUC Falaki Theater, Cairo, Egpyt; Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman, Jordan; National Center for Culture & Arts, Amman, Jordan; Al Hussein Cultural Center, Amman, Jordan.

2017 Hiwar – directed by Zahed Sultan, Muscat, Oman.

2017 Sonder – created by Bhumi Collective, Bunker Theater, London, UK; Royal College of Music, London, UK.

2016 The Subject of Matter, created by PAS Dance Kompani, Ringve Music Museum, Trondheim, Norway; Institute for Musicology, Budapest, Hungary.

2011 (W)EDGE, created by Monique Duurvoort & Gregory Shaggy Albertzoon, Zakharef in Motion Contemporary Dance Festival with, Amman, Jordan.

2013 Dance performance as a result of an Artistic Residency inspired by The Roots, of Kader Attou – CCN La Rochelle / Cie Accrorap, as part of Zakharef In Motion Dance Festival.

2009 Ahel Al Himmeh, organized by Ahl Alhema (Queen Rania’s Award for Community Champions), with the presence of His Majesty King Abdullah II and Her Majesty Queen Rania, Roman Theater, Amman, Jordan.

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