WHITE FLAG – Sorry Not Sorry

The contemporary dance theatre work was developed through a collective choreographic process to address the shifting meaning of freedom within societies shaped by rapid technological development, global interdependence, and persistent inequality. Rather than presenting freedom as a stable or universally shared condition, the work approaches it as something negotiated within systems of power, social expectations, and cultural norms.

Across many societies, individual liberty is often discussed alongside competing concerns: security, social cohesion, justice, privacy, and environmental responsibility. These tensions become more visible when viewed from a global perspective, where the ability to exercise freedom varies widely across borders. What appears as autonomy or self-expression in one context may be restricted, contested, or even dangerous in another. The performance situates the body within these contradictions, treating movement as a way to test how personal agency operates under pressure from collective structures.

The work therefore places non-violence, hesitation, and withdrawal alongside more direct forms of resistance, raising questions about how agency is expressed when confrontation is not the chosen strategy.

Sound, video, and light form an integrated environment that interacts with the choreography, juxtaposing the weight of political symbolism with the casual language of contemporary digital culture. To reflect a broader tension between complex social realities and the simplified expressions through which they often circulate. Within this space, the performance invites reflection on how freedom is practiced, negotiated, and sometimes relinquished in the currents of our time.
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Choreography: Birke van Maartens and Sarah Al Faouri
Performance: Sarah Al Faouri & Birke van Maartens
Sound Production/ Songwriting: Gabriel Vitel
Videography: Jan Philip Roza
Light Design: Bewegtbild Ben