CO-PRESENTS: Of Us by Jenna Eady and Tariq Mitri

IN CONVERSATION

with Jenna Eady and Tariq Mitri, creators/performers of Of Us

We sat down with CO-PRESENTS artists Jenna Eady and Tariq Mitri to gain perspective into their inspirations and process leading up to the premiere of their new work, Of Us. We hope these words spark your curiosity to join us at Cherry Street Village alongside co-presenters Dunya Productions as this work enters the world on April 11th and 12th, 2025. Get tickets here!

CO- : Describe who you are as artists - your histories, values, and current relationship to art making - both as individuals and together as collaborators.

Tariq & Jenna: In some ways, we have parallel lives. The youngest of three, both half-Palestinian - our fathers of Palestinian Heritage, and raised in the PNW, we met at CalArts 13 years ago in the same graduating class, studying dance and choreography.

As dancers, our freelance careers spread across the country and internationally. We’ve had a few opportunities to create work in collaboration with others, but didn’t begin making work together until SHOW7. This felt like a return to home. A return to familiar, comfort, care, shared histories and values, and the desire to create work that’s deeply rooted in Palestinian and Arab existence.  

Tariq: My family history, like many Palestinians, is a story of oppression attempting to disconnect us from our heritage. This work for me is a reclamation of that disconnection and a journey of connectivity to my Arab roots. This ancestry research emulates what our desires for Palestine are - freedom and hope.

Jenna: As a child of a Palestinian artist and activist, I have always believed that art is political. I have dual citizenship and have long understood my position that I get to move relatively freely between Palestine and the US while the rest of my family is not afforded that privilege. For me, art making has always been a tool to spread awareness, challenge thinking and express the emotional landscape of oppression.  

Tariq & Jenna:

As humans, we are more *sensitive* ;), and find strength in that when it comes to art-making. This sensitivity led us to make a work that was able to hold our grief while also being in conversation around the other side - joy. Of Us is a look into how each of our stories adds to the mosaic of the Arab experience.

To be in creation with a best friend has been one of the most gratifying and joyful experiences of our careers. This opportunity has brought us to our current relationship with art - being political, passionate, and unapologetic.

CO- : Describe your inspiration and desire to make this work. Can you talk a bit about why/how making art feels like the way you’re called to respond?

Jenna: This work feels, in part, like a continuation of a longer process that finally found its home. Back in January 2020, my father and I began a work we were calling FLOOD through a residency program at Base: Experimental Arts + Space. At that time we were asking questions about the preservation of Palestinian identity while living here in the US. After a trip home to Palestine in spring of 2024, I invited my dear friend and collaborator Tariq to join us in making a small reflection on the Palestinian experience in the wake of Genocide.

In Palestine, each day my family and I would sit outside eating sunflower seeds and hear bombs dropped miles away - the table would shake, everyone would go quiet, and then, slowly, we’d continue in the hopes that it would stop. Our creation for SHOW7 was a glimpse into that disruption.   

Tariq: Of Us is an expansion of that duet, and a step into something new, building out the context and world where each seed exists. Seeds of artistic ideas, seeds of life experiences. Living as Palestinian Americans, we have a responsibility to speak for those who have been silenced. This work is our way of processing our grief as people directly impacted by Genocide, a way to invite people into dialogue, and an ode to Palestine.

CO- : What have been some recent joys for you of being an artist in Seattle? Some recent joys of being an artist in general?

Tariq & Jenna: As long-time Seattle artists we’ve seen the changes of community over time, and how it’s always blossoming. The heart of this community is the people, and we’re grateful to be a part of its lineage.

As we’ve both taken moments away from the active dance community here, the return to practice, to collaboration, to care-taking, world-building, deep conversation and believing in ourselves have brought us joy.

Making work that has intense relevancy to our lives, and the lives of those under oppression, which should be relevant to everyone who opposes genocide.

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Design by Ryan Hunt, photos by Maya Tacon