How I Won the War

Born in 1990, Ahmad Joudeh – now a star of the Dutch National Ballet – grew up in Yarmouk, a Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus, son of a Palestinian father and Syrian mother. He not only had to struggle for survival as a dancer during the Syrian war, but he also fought a tough, private war to realise his dream. “My father forbid me to dance”, he says. “Because in our culture, to be a ballet dancer is the worst thing your son can choose to do for a living. He said it was a shame for the family and wanted me to study English or medicine. But I said no, this is my life. I went to dance class secretly. When he found out, he beat me with a wooden stick. He used to beat me really hard. Once he hurt my leg so badly, I couldn’t dance for days. But I never gave in. I said to him: it’s dance or die”.