Salute the Revolution

Submitted by zadafro17 461 Like

(Choreographed and danced by Ahmed Zada – Video directed and taken by Ahmed Butalak)

This dance video is dedicated to the one year anniversary of the 17th of February, Libyan revolution. A revolution which led to the rebirth of a whole nation. A revolution defined by courage, fearlessness, ambition, hope and most importantly faith. This is where I used the 5th tutorial, ‘Culture is Key’. I was inspired by my culture’s unity during a drastic nation changing revolution. One that I have lived and participated in since day 1.

I used the song ‘Deep Edge’ (by Melo Da Producer) as it had a powerful beat which in my opinion, perfectly emobdies a freedom fighter. At the first part (20 seconds) of the dance, I used the principles of Salah’s 3rd tutorial, ‘Seeing is Believing’. By using the technique of miming in my first 10 seconds, I showed how the Libyan people were trapped for over 4 decades. Then I discovered an object which I later wore. That object (which turns out to be a warrior’s helmet with the new Libyan independence flag painted on it) gave me a rush of strength, allowing me to break the cage that has oppressed the Libyan people for years.

I paid attention to when Salah said, always be unique and have your own style. This is why I incorporated the powerful style of dance, krumping (as well as some jookin’) to reflect the might of the Libyan freedom fighters as they fought against tyranny in this life-changing revolution.

Throughout parts of the dance, I used techniques from Salah’s other tutorials such as ‘The Architect’ and ‘Snake in the Water’. The sharpness of the tutting resembled the piercing struggle our people had to go through, such as grieving over the martyrdom of our brave young men. On the other hand, the smoothness of the waving mirrored the beautiful feelings which arose between my people such as love and unity.

Music has always been my road to fascination, creativity and inspiration. It has always gotten me through adversities as it did during the revolution. It runs through every vessel in my body and I sometimes call it, my everyday fuel. This is why I was able to relate to the first tutorial of ‘The Music of Life’ because music simply plays a huge role in my life. I like to send a message through every dance of mine and that is why I use the music for guidance.

At the very end of the video, you can hear an Arabic phrase said. It is a very famous phrase told by our Libyan hero, Omar El-Mukhtar who led the resistance against the Italian colonization of Libya between 1911-1931. The renowned phrase which he said and was constantly repeated during the revolution, driving the Libyan people with hope, guidance and strength, was “We will never surrender ‘we win or we die’”. Surrender is exactly what we did not do and we finally arose victorious. This video is dedicated to the thousands of martyrs who sacrificed their lives in this great 9 month revolution for us to see this day through their light.