Battery Dance to Honor Adel Euro by Helping Refugee Dancers

August 25, 2016

Adel Euro

Last month, we heard the heartbreaking news that a young Iraqi dancer, Adel Euro, was killed in a bombing in Baghdad. Euro had been training with New York-based Battery Dance Company online through Skype, and was planning to move to the United States to dance professionally.

It isn’t easy to pursue dance in a country like Iraq. Euro was beaten by police when they found him practicing, and lost friends who didn’t approve of his passion. To allow talented dancers living in conflict zones to reach their full potential—and to get them out of danger—Battery Dance will honor Euro with the Adel Euro Campaign for Dancers Seeking Refuge. The program will relocate dancers in dangerous situations to the United States to train.

“The experience with Adel has taught us that getting these dancers out of danger is of the utmost urgency. Every day, extraordinary talent is lost in conflict zones to senseless and random violence. Unfortunately, as we have learned from Adel’s story, there is no time to waste,” wrote Jonathan Hollander, artistic director of Battery Dance in a press release.

The company hopes to raise $30,000 to provide refuge for six Middle Eastern dancers. The dancers will form a touring company, and travel to schools and universities across the country to introduce students to dances from their cultures and to combat Islamophobia.

To learn more about the campaign and to make a donation, click here.

 

Get more
Dance Magazine.