Biography

Mohanad Smama is a Palestinian dancer and choreographer from Gaza, and one of the pioneers of contemporary dance in his city. He founded the Hayy Contemporary Arts Group in Gaza. With extensive experience in contemporary dance and Palestinian folklore, he works on developing training methodologies related to movement and has established his own dance school, which he uses to enrich the cultural and artistic scene in Gaza. He also founded the first contemporary dance studio in Gaza and has produced many artistic performances that address social issues, as well as ongoing projects that integrate various art forms into his performances and works.

Mohanad is also a filmmaker, having produced dance films and participated in conferences about the role of art in Gaza and how it can be used as a method of expression and therapy for all age groups, especially in the context of the war in Gaza. Having survived the genocide alone, Mohanad is now focused on continuing his work in dance and sharing his voice and art with the world through his body, words, and performances that reflect Palestinian culture and the impact of war.

Artistic project

Limitless is a choreographic work by Mohanad Smama, rooted in the experience of a body that has lived through war, displacement, and profound transformation. Through a fusion of contemporary dance and Palestinian Dabke, the performance creates a distinctive physical language emerging from both personal and collective memory, carrying traces of place, sound, trauma, and survival.

The body is not treated merely as an instrument of performance, but as a living archive where unwritten moments are stored: sudden fear, trembling, resilience, fleeting laughter, and fractures that transform into strength. The dancer moves through shifting physical states that reflect his journey from war to displacement, and from siege to the search for new horizons beyond his original geography. Movement becomes a way of processing what has happened and attempting to comprehend what often feels incomprehensible.

The work is built on a dynamic tension between the individual and the collective, between folk rhythm and contemporary experimentation.It raises questions about the body’s capacity to transcend psychological and geographical borders. Limitless is not only a personal narrative, but a sensory experience inviting the audience to reflect on memory, resistance, and freedom, and on the possibility of transforming pain into creative energy that moves toward life.

Format: performance

Size of audience: 150 to 200 people

Specific location: different spaces — in the street between buildings, in an open area close to the environment from which the idea originally emerged, the city of Gaza, or in nature among trees, or on the seashore.

Timing/duration: from 30 minutes to one hour.