Women in northeast Syria’s Kurdish-controlled Rojava struggle against sexism and patriarchy with revolutionary practices that should be known by the whole world, Brazilian ballet dancer and actress Rojda Dendara, said on Sunday.
Dendara travelled to Rojava a year ago to explore the women’s revolution and share her artistic knowledge. She was drawn to Rojava’s democracy and federalism, which she extensively researched before later deciding to move there, according to her interview with Jinha News.
Dendara has been engaged in artistic activities that serve the Rojava revolution by combining folk with contemporary dance. She promotes folk theatre and dance to create a unique artistic language with the people of southern Kurdistan.
“I am a ballerina and also do expressionist dance and theatre. When I was in Brazil in 2017, I researched Russian women who fought in World War II. An actor friend asked me, ‘Why don’t you research Kurdish women?’ At the time, I didn’t know anything about the Rojava Revolution,” she told Jinha.
The Rojava Revolution, led by the ideas of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan, has inspired many internationalist fighters and anti-capitalists from around the world to join the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the Internationalist Freedom Battalion, and the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) in North and East Syria in the fight against ISIS, while others went there to share artistic knowledge.
Dendara has taken part in many projects in Rojava, including a theatre play and a music video titled “PKK Epic,” to which she contributes dances. Despite the difficulties of adapting to a new culture, Dendara has found the experience to be rich and fulfilling.
Dendara hopes to take what she has learned from Rojava to Brazil and to introduce the Rojava Revolution to her people.
“Women have given a huge struggle in Rojava Kurdistan and they are working with their hearts and souls to eliminate the sexist and the patriarchal mentality,” Dendara said. “My hope is that not only the Brazilian people but everyone will get familiar with this struggle and to respect the Rojava Kurdistan Revolution,” she said.