MKH Dabke & Middle Eastern Dance Entertainment performing at the 2025 Downtown Ashland Grand Illumination
When Michael Kahwajy-Hyland leads a Dabke line, something remarkable happens: strangers take each other's hands and move together as one. That is not a metaphor — it is the literal, physical truth of Dabke, a traditional Levantine line dance born from the ancient lands where modern-day Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and Jordan reside. And it is precisely why Kahwajy-Hyland has made it his life's mission to bring this dance to as many people as possible.
As founder and creative director of MKH Dabke & Middle Eastern Dance Entertainment, the Richmond-based artist and educator has built a professional touring company that bridges cultures through the world's oldest recorded dances. Now, following the triumphant inaugural year of his Artist-in-Residence program at the University of Richmond, Kahwajy-Hyland is actively expanding MKH Dabke's performances, workshops, and residencies to new stages, campuses, and communities.
The Residency That Started Something Big
In 2025, the University of Richmond's Department of Theatre & Dance residency curator selected Kahwajy-Hyland as the first-ever artist for their new Dance Residency for Social Change — a program built to bring meaningful, movement-based cultural work to campus. It exceeded every expectation.
MKH Dabke’s University of Richmond 2025 poster
The residency unfolded in three interconnected ways. First, Kahwajy-Hyland delivered guest lectures across multiple university departments — from music and dance to political science — weaving the history, cultural context, and living practice of Dabke into each course's subject matter. Students didn't just learn about the ideas and significance behind dance; they did it, experiencing firsthand the connective power that centuries of human tradition have encoded into its steps.
Second, he hosted a major public community workshop, opening the university's facilities to the wider Richmond area and inviting anyone curious about Middle Eastern culture to participate.
The residency culminated with a full-length, sold-out production of MKH Dabke's flagship show, Lifeforce: Nafs — staged in the round so that the audience was surrounded by the action on all sides. Produced by Kahwajy-Hyland and co-producer/residency curator, Alicia Diaz, the performance featured Dabke, belly dancers, live drummers, and the William & Mary Middle Eastern Music Ensemble, whose musicians were scattered throughout the crowd, enveloping every audience member in a deeply immersive experience. A Lebanese tasting menu from Natalie's Taste of Lebanon capped the evening, and audience members ultimately spilled out of the building, dancing together in a spiraling Dabke line beneath the open sky.
"At the end of the performance, we invited the audience to get up and join the Dabke line. The space flooded, people who had never met dancing in one connected line, turning strangers into neighbors — and then that sea of people flowed out of the performance space into the open air of the courtyard beneath the stars. It was absolutely incredible." — Michael Kahwajy-Hyland
The show sold out in under a week. Student end-of-term papers cited the residency as transformative. Professors reported that their students' worldviews had genuinely expanded. A mini-documentary capturing the experience is now in production.
What Is Dabke — And Why Does It Matter?
MKH Dabke & Middle Eastern Dance Entertainment performing at the 2025 Downtown Ashland Grand Illumination
Dabke (pronounced deb-kee) is one of the oldest recorded dances in the world, rooted in the Levant — the region just east of the Mediterranean Sea encompassing Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and Jordan. It is a social, communal line dance defined by high energy, deep rhythm, and an unbroken chain of connected hands. It is danced at weddings and festivals, and it is danced at protests. In both settings, it carries the same message: we are here, we are together, and we are proud.
For Kahwajy-Hyland — an American-born Lebanese artist who has spent extended time in both Lebanon and Jordan — Dabke is far more than an art form. It is a direct encounter with a culture that American media rarely portrays completely or accurately. MKH Dabke's work is a form of cultural activism, not through protest, but through joy. By bringing the beauty, artistry, and community spirit of Levantine culture into schools, theaters, and public spaces, Kahwajy-Hyland and his company are quietly, powerfully changing the story many Americans carry about the Middle East.
What MKH Dabke Offers
MKH Dabke is available for a wide range of programming, each fully tailored to the venue and community:
Stage Performances — Full theatrical productions featuring Dabke, belly dance, live drumming, and live ensemble music. Adaptable for theaters, festival stages, and unconventional spaces.
Workshops — Interactive, participatory experiences for all ages and backgrounds. No dance experience required. Attendees leave having moved, connected, and learned something genuinely new about Middle Eastern culture.
Educational Residencies — In-depth, multi-session programs for universities, colleges, and K–12 institutions. Residencies can span multiple disciplines — dance, history, political science, music — and are designed to produce lasting impact on students and campus communities alike.
Keynote Talks and Custom Cultural Programming — Tailored presentations for cultural organizations, festivals, corporate events, and community celebrations.
The company tours nationally and is available for bookings throughout the U.S. and internationally. MKH Dabke is currently booking performances and programs for Q3 and Q4 2026, with availability for cultural events, campus programs, and community festivals, and is open to exploring opportunities throughout the rest of the year.
About Michael Kahwajy-Hyland
Michael Kahwajy-Hyland is a Richmond-based artist, educator, and cultural resource. As founder and creative director of MKH Dabke & Middle Eastern Dance Entertainment, he has performed at festivals across Virginia and beyond, collaborated with universities and cultural institutions, and traveled internationally to bring Dabke to new audiences. He was the inaugural Artist-in-Residence for the University of Richmond's Dance Residency for Social Change in 2025 — a program that will now continue annually as a direct result of his work.
His mission: to awaken the human spirit through meaningful movement and cultural storytelling, and to leave every audience more empowered, more connected, and more open to the world than when they arrived.
MKH Dabke & Middle Eastern Dance Entertainment performing at the Lebanese festival
