DANZA & COMUNICACIÓN: AHMAD JOUDEH: "WHEN I DANCE I SWEAT MY TEARS"

By Ana González Vañek

IG @anagvblog

I would like to claim once again the immense transforming power of dance. As a social practice that can resignificate individual and collective experiences, this powerful art in all its forms and expressions can heal our world. There are bombs falling on entire towns right now. What are we doing to avoid it?

In the path of redemption through dance, I discovered a jewel that shines for entire humanity.

Ahmad Joudeh was born in Damascus in 1990 as a stateless refugee. Under the civil war, he experienced life-threatening situations, his home was destroyed and he lost five family members. After witnessing a child killed in a battle, he started working for children orphaned in the war, joining activities of SOS Children's Villages Syria: holding dance shows for fundraising and dance workshops for orphans at their villages.

Because of his dance activities, he received constant threats from extremists. As a response, he had the words “Dance or Die” tattooed on the back of his neck, the spot where a blade would fall in decapitation.

For Ahmad Joudeh, to dance is to exist. To give up dancing was not an option.

In August 2016, Ahmad Joudeh’s struggle in Syria was reported in a news program on Dutch National Television. Touched by the story, The Dutch National Ballet organised The Dance For Peace Fund, which invited Ahmad Joudeh to The Netherlands.
In October 2016, Ahmad Joudeh moved to Amsterdam. Since 2017, he has been internationally active as an artist with Amsterdam as the base. He has also been contributing to events for raising awareness of the refugee situation.
In November 2018, Ahmad Joudeh published his autobiography “Danza o Muori" (Dance or Die).

Photography by Julien Benhamou

AGV: -After experiencing one of the greatest tragedies that part of our humanity lives, how was the experience of dance in your life?

AJ: My dance experience in Syria was very challenging already before the war broke out. Being born in the refugee camp in Damascus for Palestinian refugees, to be a ballet dancer was not easy, especially for a man. Under the war, the life itself became hard. On top of that, I started receiving threats from the extremists, simply because I was a dancer and I was teaching dance to children. But it was never an option for me to stop dancing. I am lucky that I could become a successful dancer after all these experiences.

Photography - Courtesy of Ahmad Joudeh

AGV: How would you describe your artistic evolution in the path of dance as a form of redemption?

AJ: I think the artist has the same duty like the soldiers, especially when the country is facing a war. Here, artists’ role becomes so important because a country without culture and arts is a country not worth fighting for. As Jonathan Larson said, “the opposite of war is not peace, it`s creation”. And that’s what I believe as well.

Photography - Courtesy of Ahmad Joudeh

AGV: In which ways has the pandemic impacted your work as a dancer and what is your vision about this stage in the history of our societies?

AJ: Nowadays we are living a very difficult time because of the pandemic. It has affected my work as a dancer as it has for all artists, and basically everybody. I can hardly train and I’m not performing. But I have used this period for a different way of training as a dancer than I used to: I have been training my body for more than 15 years, almost the half of my age, but in this period, I wanted to take a year to train my mind. I have done a good work and I am happy about it.

I have also used the time to work on the English version of my book “Dance or Die”, which will be published in the US the second half of this year. It was originally published in the Italian language two years ago, and it was very successful. Now I’m looking forward to the publication of the English version. Besides that, I was involved in some online art projects, including the quarantine video of the song “My Word is Free” of Emel Mathluthi. I also produced some quarantine videos of my own, which are posted on my social media. In November 2020, I was a member of jury for 2020 JCS International Young Creatives Awards of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (INTERNATIONAL EMMY®). And in January 2021, I was a member of jury for online international dance competition “Ballet Beyond Borders” organised by Rocky Mountain Ballet Theatre in Montana, USA. They were both originally planned to take place in USA, in New York and in Los Angeles, respectively. But because of the pandemic, they were held online.

AGV: What do you understand about to communicate through dance?

AJ: I think communication through dance can bring what we cannot tell by words or even by songs. When I dance, I am in the most vulnerable state on which I can be. While I am dancing I put my feelings all out there, I give my heart wide open, and I sweat my tears.-