About brasa | جمرة
brasa | جمرة is an evening-length interdisciplinary dance theater work created by Danza Orgánica and collaborators, premiering through the CROMA Open Doors Residency. Integrating contemporary dance, ritual, multimedia design, and Puerto Rican and Palestinian traditional dance forms, the work explores collective memory, ancestral knowledge, resistance, and transformation through an immersive and culturally grounded lens centered on Puerto Rico and Palestine.
Rooted in storytelling and lived experience, the piece brings together collaborator Juliet Salameh, choreographers Mar Parrilla and Jassi Murad, and composers Ghassan Swalhi, Sasha Costanza-Chock, Flight or Visibility, and Jorge Arce in a liberatory cocreative process. Drawing inspiration from the histories, struggles, and aspirations of Puerto Rican and Palestinian communities, brasa | جمرة asks: How do we resist? How do we heal? What do we carry forward?
Told through a non-linear structure, brasa | جمرة traces the ongoing pursuit of liberation in Puerto Rico and Palestine. Rather than presenting history as a linear timeline, the work moves through moments of resistance, sacrifice, loss, and collective action, revealing resonances across geographies, generations, and movements.
This iteration focuses primarily on the period between the 1930s and 1950s, a time of profound political upheaval in both Puerto Rico and Palestine. The work draws inspiration from figures such as Pedro Albizu Campos, Francisco Matos Paoli, and Lolita Lebrón, whose contributions shaped Puerto Rico's independence movement, as well as Palestinian organizers, poets, revolutionaries, prisoners, and freedom fighters such as Leila Khaled, who resisted British colonial rule, displacement, military occupation, and the ongoing struggle for self-determination.
The performance references historical events including labor strikes led by sugarcane workers in Puerto Rico, the Ponce Massacre of 1937, the imprisonment of Puerto Rican Nationalist leaders, the Great Palestinian Revolt of 1936–1939, the execution of early Palestinian resistance leaders under British rule, and the Nakba of 1948, during which more than 700,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced from their homes. These events are not presented as historical reenactments, but as embodied echoes that continue to shape the present.
The work also acknowledges the actions of individuals who chose different paths of resistance in response to colonial violence and political repression. Among them are Lolita Lebrón and Leila Khaled, whose names became internationally recognized through acts that challenged dominant narratives and drew global attention to the conditions facing their peoples. Their stories, alongside those of many lesser-known organizers, prisoners, workers, artists, and community members, serve as entry points into broader questions of sacrifice, responsibility, and collective liberation.
While much of the work is rooted in the histories of the twentieth century, brasa | جمرة also reaches into the present. References to the Great March of Return in Gaza beginning in 2018 and the 2021 escape of six Palestinian prisoners from Gilboa Prison remind us that struggles for freedom are not confined to the past. The work also draws inspiration from the ongoing protests in Puerto Rico, where communities continue to organize against displacement, privatization, and development projects such as Esencia (2026), which many view as threats to land, cultural heritage, and local self-determination. Together, these contemporary acts of resistance affirm that the pursuit of liberation remains unfinished. The race toward freedom continues.
At the heart of brasa | جمرة is community action. While the lives and legacies of historical figures help shape the landscape of the work, they are not its destination. Rather, they serve as sparks—brasa, embers—that ignite collective reflection and action. Through performance and ritual, the piece creates an embodied space for connection, remembrance, and transformation, inviting audiences to consider how histories of resistance are carried in our bodies, communities, and futures.
brasa | جمرة is ultimately a sacred gathering that honors the resilience of communities, the wisdom of ancestors, and the enduring pursuit of freedom, dignity, and self-determination.
Brasa | جمرة
Program & Scene Guide
1. DAY TO DAY
The work begins with our humanity. Drawing connections between relationships, joy, and collective living. It evokes the histories carried by the peoples of Puerto Rico and Palestine. The landscape becomes a living archive where ancestral voices, collective memory, and resistance take root.
Cast: Simon Montalvo, Juliet Salameh, Fran de Paula, Jassi Murad, Jenny Huang, Dana Alsamsam, Marcel Santiago Marcelino, Claudia Varela, Yarumi Gonzalez, and Mar Parrilla.
Choreography: Mar Parrilla, and cast members.
Music: Guamo (conch shell), by Mar Parrilla. Hijos del Cañaveral (excerpt) Residente.
2. PEACEFUL PROTEST
Communities gather in collective action. Through movement and assembly, this section honors the power of people organizing for justice and self-determination. What begins as a peaceful demonstration becomes a testament to courage in the face of oppression.
Cast: Simon Montalvo, Juliet Salameh, Fran de Paula, Jassi Murad, Jenny Huang, Dana Alsamsam, Marcel Santiago Marcelino, Claudia Varela, Yarumi Gonzalez, and Mar Parrilla.
Choreography: Mar Parrilla, and cast members.
Music: Live güiro by Mar Parrilla.
3. MASACRE DE PONCE
Inspired by the Ponce Massacre of 1937, this section reflects on one of the most devastating acts of state violence in Puerto Rican history. What began as a peaceful march calling for freedom became a tragedy that forever shaped the island's struggle for self-determination.
Cast: Marcel Santiago Marcelino, Jassi Murad, Fran de Paula, and Mar Parrilla.
Choreography: Mar Parrilla
Music: Original Composition by Jorge Arce.
4. DUET: LOLITA LEBRÓN & LEILA KHALED
This duet draws inspiration from the lives of Lolita Lebrón and Leila Khaled, two women whose actions became symbols of resistance within their respective liberation movements. Rather than retelling their histories, the work reflects on courage, sacrifice, conviction, and the complex choices made in pursuit of freedom.
Cast: Jassi Murad and Mar Parrilla.
Choreography: Jassi Murad and Mar Parrilla.
Narration: Original narrations by Jassi Murad and Mar Parrilla.
5. UNDERGROUND (RESISTANCE) OPERATION
Resistance takes many forms. Inspired by historical and contemporary acts of defiance across Puerto Rican and Palestinian liberation movements, this section explores collective action, strategy, risk, and the enduring determination of communities confronting colonial power.
Cast: Simon Montalvo, Juliet Salameh, Fran de Paula, Jassi Murad, Jenny Huang, Dana Alsamsam, Marcel Santiago Marcelino, Claudia Varela, Yarumi Gonzalez, and Mar Parrilla
Choreography: Collective creation led by Claudia Varela.
6. PRISON CELLS
Across time and geography, prisons have been used to silence movements and their leaders. This section reflects on political imprisonment, isolation, endurance, and the ways memory, imagination, and solidarity persist even behind walls.
Cast: Simon Montalvo, Juliet Salameh, Fran de Paula, Jassi Murad, Jenny Huang, Dana Alsamsam, Marcel Santiago Marcelino, Claudia Varela, Yarumi Gonzalez, and Mar Parrilla
Choreography: Collective creation led by Mar Parrilla.
Music: Juliet Salameh
7. THIS IS A BODY
Inspired by the poem This Is a Body by Lisa Suhair Majaj and developed in collaboration with Juliet Salameh, this section considers the bodies in Gaza as homeland, witness, archive, and site of resistance. The body remembers what history often attempts to erase.
Cast: Simon Montalvo, Juliet Salameh, Fran de Paula, Jassi Murad, Jenny Huang, Dana Alsamsam, Marcel Santiago Marcelino, Claudia Varela, Yarumi Gonzalez, and Mar Parrilla,
Choreography: Collective creation led by Juliet Salameh.
Music: Sasha Costanza-Chock, Flight or Visibility, Juliet Salameh, and Evan Greer.
Poem: This is a Body, by Lisa Suhair Majaj. Narrated by Juliet Salameh.
8. DUET: PEDRO ALBIZU CAMPOS & FRANCISCO MATOS PAOLI
Drawing inspiration from the relationship between Pedro Albizu Campos and Francisco Matos Paoli, this duet explores mentorship, care, poetry, political awakening, and the transmission of vision across generations. It reflects on the multiple roles of artists, thinkers, and organizers in movements for liberation.
Cast: Marcel Santiago Marcelino and Fran de Paula.
Choreography: Marcel Santiago Marcelino and Fran de Paula.
Poem: "Pedro se llama el dirigente" by Francisco Matos Paoli. Narrated by Marcel Santiago Marcelino. Recorded and masterized by Ghassan Sawalhi.
9. MELANCOLÍA
A meditation on grief, longing, exile, and remembrance. Melancolía honors those who have been lost, displaced, imprisoned, or separated from their homelands while acknowledging the resilience that emerges from collective mourning.
Cast: Simon Montalvo, Juliet Salameh, Fran de Paula, Jassi Murad, Jenny Huang, Dana Alsamsam, Marcel Santiago Marcelino, Claudia Varela, Yarumi Gonzalez, and Mar Parrilla.
Choreography: Collective creation led by Mar Parrilla and Jassi Murad.
Music: Original Composition by Ghassan Swalhi
10. MARCH OF RETURN
Inspired by the Great March of Return and contemporary struggles for self-determination, this section centers collective action and the enduring desire to return to land, to community, to dignity, and to freedom. The march becomes both memory and future.
Cast: Simon Montalvo, Juliet Salameh, Fran de Paula, Jassi Murad, Jenny Huang, Dana Alsamsam, Marcel Santiago Marcelino, Claudia Varela, Yarumi Gonzalez, and Mar Parrilla.
Choreography: Collective creation led by Jassi Murad.
Concept by Jassi Murad.
Costume Design: Spoon basket by Feda Eid.
Music: Original Composition by Ghassan Sawalhi.
11. CODA
The work concludes in ritual. The stories carried throughout the evening gather into a final act of remembrance and collective action. The embers remain. The responsibility to carry them forward belongs to all of us.
Cast: Simon Montalvo, Juliet Salameh, Fran de Paula, Jassi Murad, Jenny Huang, Dana Alsamsam, Marcel Santiago Marcelino, Claudia Varela, Yarumi Gonzalez, and Mar Parrilla
Choreography: Mar Parrilla, Jassi Murad, and company members.
Music: Original Compositions by Shane Shanahan, Ricardo Gallo , and Ghassan Sawalhi.
ADDITIONAL CREDITS
Artistic Direction: Mar Parrilla
Dramaturgical text congtributor: Simon Montalvo
Music Director for March of Return and Coda, Composer, Sound Designer, Artistic Consultant, and Creator of the (O)PRESS(D) vest: Ghassan Sawalhi
Music Director and Composer of music for Masacre de Ponce: Jorge Arce, accompanied by Marcel Santiago Marcelino.
Costume Design: Mar Parrilla and cast members.
Original Concept for brasa | جمرة : Juliet Salameh and Mar Parrilla.
Altar Creation: Full cast, with input from Taina Vargas.
Dance floor provided by Boston Dance Alliance with support from the Mass Cultural Council, Universal Participation Grant.
This work was made possible with the support of CROMA's Open Doors Residency, and the partnership between the Cultural Equity Incubator and Jo-Mé Dance.
Danza Orgánica would like to thank our families, friends, and supporters of our work. It took a village to create this meaningful work, and we thank all of you who have supported us throughout this process.