We are honoured to dedicate this issue of our virtual arts centre newsletter at the British Council to the memory of Ayman Safiah, sharing testimonies and condolences from some friends and colleagues across various works and moments with his family and loved ones.
It was with great sorrow that we received the news about the departure of the beautiful being and soul of Ayman, the artist, the dancer, and the person who broke so much stiffness in his flexibility, built so much foundation with the fluidity of his posture, on and off stage. The cultural sector and the dance scene in Palestine and in the whole world lost a great talent, and a collaborative force with fire that put light and power into the work it created. Ayman’s legacy will outlive many generations, and we as an organization are thankful to those who have shared their memories of Ayman and moments of his beautiful work.
Dear Ayman, thank you for all you shared, all what you gently fought for, all the strength, all the creation, and all the beauty. Rest in peace, dancing, always.
نتشرف بإهداء هذا العدد من اصدار مركز الفنون الإفتراضي لذكرى العزيز ايمن صفية لنشاركها مع عائلته ومحبيه، متضمنة شهادات ومشاركات من زميلات وزملاء وصديقات وأصدقاء تقاطعن في العمل والحياة معه.
كان إستقبال خبر رحيل أيمن صفية مفجعاً لنا جميعاً، أيمن الإنسان الجميل الروح، الفنان، الراقص، المبدع الذي كسر الكثير من التحجّر بطواعيته، وبنى اساساً صلب لكسر نمطيات كثيرة بإنسياب حركته وبنية جسده الذي رقص على المسرح وفي كل مكان.
تخسر الحركة الثقافية وقطاع الرقص في فلسطين والعالم موهبة إستثنائية وطاقة تشاركية ألهبت والهمت وأنارت الكثير بخلقها الإبداعي.
إن إرث أيمن سيعيش ليستكمل إلهام أجيالٍ عديدة كما فعل دوماً، هذا الإرث الذي كانت لنا الفرصة كمؤسسة ان نشاركه وننهل منه قليلاً في المرات التي عملنا فيها سوياً، والتي ندين لها ولأيمن بإمتنانٍ وتواضع شديدين.
العزيز أيمن، نشكرك على كل ما أتحته بسعة إنفتاحك، كل ما حاربت من أجله بكل سلاسة، كل الهشاشة والقوّة التي أفضت بها، كل الإبداع، كل الجمال. ارقد بسلام، راقصاً أبداً.
We remember Ayman as a wonderful dancer, who performed in the Badke ensemble at the Southbank Centre at Shubbak 2015. This was an emotional performance for the ensemble as it was the last show of the original cast who had created this show. We remember his electrifying presence and are deeply saddened by his tragic death. Eckhard Thiemann - Artistic Director / CEO – Shubbak
Watch a short excerpt of Badke.
Watch BetweenTwo Worlds – a video tribute to Ayman Al Aml Organisation of Contemporary Dance – Nazareth.
Watch Ashirah Darwish's Tribute to Ayman – part of the French Institute of Jerusalem – Chateaubriand’s Epidemic Diaries initiative
Read Franco-Palestinian dancer, Ashtar Muallem’s reflections on her friend Ayman:
To write about my friend Ayman, is not an easy task at all. Until the moment I haven’t truly grasped what it means that he is gone and I will not laugh or dance with him again. I haven’t seen Ayman for the last two years and in our latest communication I was trying to organize a trip together to Petra, for he had a great adventurous spirit and rendered all experiences exciting with his creativity and laughter. He wrote back to me saying that he was busy preparing for an international exposure for one of his shows, though not to worry because for sure we will go to Petra together another time; as Petra is going nowhere. Indeed Petra is always there but him not.
When I got to Palestine to perform my solo show Enheduanna of course the busy life took its course and the fact that my family lives in Jerusalem and he lives in Haifa we did not get the chance to meet. Ayman did call me though when my solo was censored on the stage of An-Najah University in Nablus. He expressed his sadness about the incident and supported me. Ayman’s show “Between Two Worlds” that he choreographed for Al Amal dance school in Nazareth was also censored just few months before mine. “Between two Worlds” was meant to perform at the opening of the Palestinian National Theatre Festival organized by the Palestinian Ministry of Culture, but his show was cancelled and replaced by a dabke troupe because the ministry did not accept the dancers’ skin-coloured costumes, which his students were wearing.
What I know for sure, is that Ayman knew the importance of being honest to himself. His show “Between Two worlds” presented the theme of self-acceptance and challenged the societal norms, even if the theme and the movement shocked the audience, the message had to be out. Perhaps this is why I felt so close to Ayman, for in life as at work I feel the same way. Sometimes it is important to shock, to shake and to challenge in order to create change. Even if you lose some people who were on your side you might gain hundred others who were thirsty for your message, and for someone to take the lead.
Ayman having embraced his gay sexuality early on in his life, did take the lead in this domain as well, he saw himself as a model to other individuals who didn’t have the courage yet to get out of the closet and embrace their sexuality. He spoke about his sexual orientation in different interviews and performed about gender roles in Bashar Murad’s video clip ‘More Like You.’ Ayman admired the ‘masculine dancer body’ and his Instagram account witnesses that. His freedom and high spirit made him an inspiration to many, those who wish to embrace dancing or embrace themselves. His choreography “Between Two World” that unfortunately I did not get the chance to see, talked about the relationship of his female student dancers to their bodies and to the bodies of others, and challenged the limitations imposed upon them by society. In one documentary around the show released in the tribute to his soul, Ayman says: “Don’t obey, revolt and discuss, because without questioning you never learn.”
The day Ayman drowned, I received the news with such calmness and acceptance. To me a person like Ayman can’t die. He embodies life in its fullest meaning. Him being there on the other side changes the ideology of death and renders it a gayer place to be.
The incident not only reminded me of the fine line that separates life from whatever comes after it, or the speed in which one could tilt to the other side. It urged me to appreciate more the people around me, and how important it is to leave the best of us behind. Because of Ayman’s high spirit I can’t go back into my memory without laughing about the different moments we spent together. I have met him through the dance production Badke and together we performed on big renowned stages around the world over four years. We shared unforgettable moments on the human and professional level. when I go back to look at our pictures and videos it brings nothing but joy to me. He is the kind of person who would lay down on a billiard table at a hotel reception, wearing his pyjamas, wool socks and winter hat to make a split with a stupid face on.
I never expected to attend any of my friend’s funerals this soon. Ayman’s farewell was a big ceremony, more than 3000 people were there to say goodbye, despite the pandemic. Two thousand others watched his funeral ‘live’ online just like me. Ayman challenged societal rules even with his death, as Muslim sheikhs and Christian priests marched in the first line of his funeral. He was named a Martyr not only because he drowned but also because many families reunited over his death, families who didn’t accept their children’s sexual orientation now had a palpating evidence that society is capable of accepting them and their difference.
Ayman taught us many lessons with his departure, the fact that he left just before his 30th birthday, teaches us to stay young in our spirits just like him. I was wondering what kind of thoughts he might have had in his last minutes, perhaps he felt butterflies in his stomach to ride the high wave that took him deep into the sea, maybe he felt that he was flying at last, as he expressed to his friends that morning, that he felt that he is growing wings. Or maybe he thought how life was a short experience and now it's coming to its end.
The grander of Ayman's funeral hit me and made me wonder; do we appreciate our artists and talents as much when they are alive as when they pass away?! It surely is a true loss for the Palestinian performing arts scene to lose such a pioneering dancer as Ayman was a Ballet Boy - The Palestinian Billy Eliot, as he was called.
How many hundreds of men and women are out there in the Arab World waiting to be discovered, to be supported in their passion and provided with an opportunity to share their work and contribute to their society in order to shine just like Ayman shone?
Ashtar Muallem 3/6/2020