Mira Awad describes the concept of Bahlawan- بهلوان, an Arabic term meaning an acrobat. Mira describes how it has felt to walk on a tightrope all of her life, from childhood in an Arab village in the north of Israel, to Tel Aviv, to the world stage. Her song Bahlawan uses the metaphor of being an acrobat to describe the need for balance in intercultural contexts.
With a Palestinian father and Bulgarian mother, she is now married to a Ukrainian who walks his own tightrope, given that he has one parent who is Christian and another who is Jewish.
Mira is a multidisciplinary international performer (singer, songwriter, actress) who has hosted tv shows. She established her own world music label called LabelFree, and also writes music for theater and film. She represented Israel at Eurovision 2009, together with Noa, and made it to the finals with the song There must be another way. A relentless peace activist, Mira is identified with the agenda of dialogue and co-existence, and uses performance to build bridges for resolutions.
Center for Intercultural Dialogue 