Yousef Sbieh (he/him)
He holds a BA in Marketing and Business from Birzeit University (2015) and has studied at the National Academy of Dance in Rome (2022). Alongside this, he trained as a community dance practitioner with the Austrian organisation Yantè, working with schools across the West Bank through movement-based approaches to learning and non-violent communication. His training includes composition and choreography, DanceAbility and acro-dance with the Palestinian Circus School.
Since 2016, Sbieh has worked as a freelance performer with choreographers including Omar Rajeh, Samar King, Hooman Sharifi, and Khaled Barghouthi. In 2017, he moved to Norway after joining Carte Blanche as an apprentice, performing in productions touring across Norway and internationally.
©Kurt Van der Elst
He has an ongoing collaboration with Yaa Samar Dance Theatre, performing in works such as Against a Hard Surface, The Playground, Last Ward, Gathering, and Shabaab, alongside teaching and outreach activities. He also works with Anikaya and Catherine Young Dance, and has previously collaborated with Stereo48 in Palestine and Company’O in Morocco.
Over the past year, his work in Gathering, Shabaab, and a project with Sara Christopherson has developed in parallel with an artistic research process connected to Christopherson’s PhD, engaging with political shifts in the Middle East through performance.
Alongside his collaborative practice, he is currently developing a solo work in progress, Stuck in Motion, which explores trauma and its physical manifestations in the body.