Sheets to the Wind

Syrian dancer and choreographer Ahmad Joudeh performs on the occasion of World Refugee Day at the Simone Weil Esplanade in front of the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium. Photo: AFP/John Thys.

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”.