\u201cI worked with artistic director Raul Salamanca and helped to choreograph,\u201d Joudeh said enthusiastically.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can see the woman dancing the sama dance but shaped into classical ballet. When the man enters the stage, there\u2019s a lot of the arm movements inspired by the Sufi dance. I also was inspired by Egyptian hieroglyphics, found on the walls of the pyramids. Before the war, I perform those styles when I was in the ballet company in Syria and we did a lot of these kinds of dances. It\u2019s where I started.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Ahmad](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/sut-l-dance-joudeh1.jpg\")
Ahmad Joudeh, an Arab dancer and choreographer, will perform in the Arabian pas de deux in Golden State Ballet\u2019s \u201cThe Nutcracker\u201d production this month at the San Diego Civic Theatre. (Ahmad Joudeh)<\/p>\n
Joudeh was born in 1990 in a Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus, Syria. From his childhood days, dance represented an avenue to freedom and purpose.<\/p>\n
But the challenges he faced were nearly insurmountable.<\/p>\n
Joudeh trained at the Enana Dance Theatre in Damascus and showed great promise, but his father violently disapproved of a dance career and demanded that he choose a different path.<\/p>\n
And while traditional folk dances, such as the athletic stomping dance known as the Dabke and the whirling Sufi are acceptable, a male ballet dancer performing in the European sense is in conflict with strict Islamic standards.<\/p>\n
In December 2012, civil war broke out and Syrian Arab Army jets bombed the building in the refugee camp where Joudeh lived with many family members.<\/p>\n
Five didn\u2019t survive. His father moved to Germany as an asylum seeker.<\/p>\n
Joudeh and his siblings remained in the war-torn area with their mother. As refugees, they were stateless, without citizenship and unable to have passports.<\/p>\n
A traumatic turning point in Joudeh\u2019s life was witnessing a young girl get shot and killed when she ran across the street. It led him to give free dance classes to orphaned children.<\/p>\n
\u201cI started thinking, how can I give back to the people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat can I do as an artist? Teaching children, and giving them some time to get away from the bombs helps them to appreciate their being and it gives them a good time. But that got known in the city and I got calls from unknown numbers saying they would cut off my head. Even today, there are channels in Syria that say I should be killed.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Ahmad](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/sut-l-dance-joudeh3.jpg\")
Ahmad Joudeh, an Arab dancer and choreographer, will perform in the Arabian pas de deux in Golden State Ballet\u2019s \u201cThe Nutcracker\u201d production this month at the San Diego Civic Theatre. (Ahmad Joudeh)<\/p>\n
Neither the threat of a beheading nor his father\u2019s beatings could deter Joudeh from his desire to dance. On the back of his neck, in the spot where a blade might strike, he wears his motto, tattooed in black ink.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt says \u2018dance or die,\u2019\u201d he explained. \u201cI chose to keep dancing. The artist has the same duty like the soldier, we fight for culture and art in our country.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2014, Jouhad made it to the semifinals in the Arab version of \u201cSo You Think You Can Dance\u201d and his performance made an impact on journalist and Dutch filmmaker Roozbeh Kaboly.<\/p>\n
Kaboly produced an Emmy Award-winning documentary about Joudeh titled \u201cDance or Die\u201d in 2016.<\/p>\n
It showed Joudeh dancing on a rooftop in the ruins of the refugee camp and it aired on Dutch television, giving the dancer international exposure.<\/p>\n
Joudeh was offered a scholarship from the Dutch National Ballet and he traveled to the Netherlands with a student visa.<\/p>\n
He then was invited to join the company, and in 2021 he became a Dutch citizen.<\/p>\n
The following year, Joudeh performed a solo accompanied by Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax at the opening concert for the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.<\/p>\n
The WEF is a non-government organization and think tank, founded in 1971 and funded by about 1,000 members from multinational companies that brings together business and government leaders to address global challenges.<\/p>\n
As a voice for stateless refugees, Joudeh was chosen to serve as a Young Global Leader (YGL), an organization created by WEF founder Klaus Schwab.<\/p>\n
Next year, Joudeh will travel to Switzerland by invitation to participate in the 2026 World Economic Forum.<\/p>\n
He said that people are often surprised by his life story, documented in his memoir, \u201cDance or Die: From Stateless Refugee to International Ballet Star.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand I\u2019m an Arab man who is very tall \u2014 I\u2019m 6\u20193 with a black beard,\u201d Joudeh pondered.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople think, \u2018Who is this refugee coming from across the sea?\u2019 But when they see me as a ballet dancer, they have a totally different idea about the whole Middle East.\u201d<\/p>\n
Golden State Ballet presents \u2018The Nutcracker\u2019<\/p>\n
When:<\/strong> 7:30 p.m. Friday; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday; 1 p.m. next Sunday; 7:30 p.m. Dec. 19; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 20; 1 and 5:30 p.m. Dec. 21<\/p>\n