Selected by HET THEATERFESTIVAL 2026

The jury of het Theaterfestival 2026 (Belgium) selects Badke(remix) by Amir Sabra and Ata Khatab as one of the most outstanding productions of the past season: “No performance this season was as urgent and compelling.”

The cast, crew and the entire laGeste team are very pleased with this recognition.

Don’t miss Badke(remix) and come see us on 9 &10 September at De Factorij (Brussels/Zaventem), or during one of the tour performances in Belgium, the Netherlands, and France.

Tickets for het Theaterfestival 2026 are available here.
An overview of all upcoming tour dates can be found here.

Jury report Het Theaterfestival 2026
Badke (remix) – laGeste | Stereo48

Twelve years ago there was Badke, a dance performance by Koen Augustijnen, Rosalba Torres and Hildegard De Vuyst, produced by KVS, the Qattan Foundation and les ballets C de la B, which toured worldwide. Badke(remix) is not simply a revival, but a thorough reworking by the Palestinian choreographers Amir Sabra and Ata Khatab under the wing of laGeste & Stereo48, with a entirely new Palestinian cast.

The performance opens in a telling manner. Dancer Shahd Jabarin steps out of the chain of bodies and, in remarkable silence, initiates the movements that will recur throughout the rest of the performance. The others follow her, one by one. Gradually, the contours of the dabke, the rhythmic Palestinian folk dance, begin to emerge. It is a beautiful image that remains compelling: just as Jabarin passes the movement on to her fellow dancers, Palestinian folk dance is transmitted from one generation to the next. The scene and the performance itself also opened up an interesting debate for the jury about repertoire and the transmission of dance. What constitutes a choreographic oeuvre? How do you preserve it, pass it on, and keep it alive?

Badke(remix) is austere in its design, which makes the physical strength and inner fire of the performers all the more overwhelming. Without any set or embellishment, the creators let the vibrant dabke celebration speak for itself. The dancers drive one another forward in their inexhaustible joy; group choreographies break apart into solos, which in turn ignite into duets. Badke(remix) is pure dance pleasure.
Or is it? On a few occasions in Badke(remix) the power suddenly cuts out. The dancers continue regardless – in the silence, their chants and stamping feet become even more powerful.
Badke(remix) should be a celebration of pure joy, but today it is not. Even twelve years later, Israel’s genocidal colonisation of the Palestinian people continues unabated, more openly than ever. Palestinian joy is fundamentally political today, and so this dance performance also stands as an important expression of resilience and resistance.

Badke(remix) is an irresistible celebration of collective surrender, and in this cruel world also a powerful political act. No other performance this season felt as urgent or as infectious.