Ahmad Joudeh (born 4 April 1990 in Yarmouk) is a Syrian-Palestinian and Dutch ballet dancer and a choreographer. He was born and raised as a stateless refugee in Syria. He moved to the Netherlands with help of the Dutch National Ballet Company in 2016. He is currently internationally active as an artist. In 2021, he obtained the Dutch nationality.

Early life

Born in 1990, Joudeh grew up in Yarmouk, a Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus, His mother is Syrian, his father Palestinian. Although his father did not approve of his interest in dance, Joudeh persisted, studying dance in Damascus. From 2007 until 2016, he lived in Damascus, studying dance, and teaching ballet to support himself, and to orphaned and disabled children free of charge. His mother still lives in Syria. His father is an asylum seeker center in Germany, where father and son recently reconciled after an estrangement of eleven years.

Dance

In 2014 he was a contestant in the Arab version of ''

So You Think You Can Dance ''So You Think You Can Dance'' is a franchise of reality television shows in which contestants compete in dance. The first series of the franchise, created by '' Idols'' producers Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe, premiered in July 2005 and has ...

''. He made it to the semi-finals. But because he was a Palestinian without national identity, he was told he could not win. Nevertheless, his appearances brought him to the attention of Dutch filmmaker Roozbeh Kaboly, who produced a documentary that aired on Dutch television. Joudeh has also produced several short YouTube videos that depict him dancing in Syria.

Dutch documentaries

In 2016 Roozbeh Kaboly, from the Dutch news program

Nieuwsuur Nieuwsuur (''News Hour'') is a Dutch current affairs television program produced for the NPO by the government broadcasters NOS and NTR. It is broadcast daily between 9.30 pm and 10 pm (9.30-10 pm at weekends) on NPO 2. The programme pays par ...

, made a 50-minute documentary about Ahmad called ''Dance or Die.'' It depicts him dancing in the ruins of the camp where he had grown up, visiting his family's former home in Palmyra, which has been destroyed, with his mother, and the ancient Roman theater of Palmyra, where he dances. Joudeh also takes the filmmakers to his dance studio in Damascus, where some of his young students talk about their lives, and what dance means to them. The ancient Roman theater in Palmrya was subsequently destroyed by

ISIL An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

. In 2018, a second film about Joudeh, ''Dance for Peace'', which includes his meeting and reconciliation with his father at his refugee camp in Berlin, was broadcast on Dutch television on the

program. It depicts his life once he has moved to the Netherlands and has begun dancing with the Dutch National Ballet Company. ''Dance or Die'' has been awarded with an

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

in the category Arts Programming at the International Emmy Awards in New York.

Life in the Netherlands

After the documentaries aired, Joudeh received invitations to dance from a number of countries, including the U.S., Switzerland and Belgium. He decided to go to the Netherlands at the invitation of

Ted Brandsen, TED may refer to: Economics and finance * TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar Education * ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association ** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey ** Transvaal Education Dep ...

artistic director of the Dutch National Ballet Company. Brandsen also started a crowd funder titled

Dance for Peace Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its reperto ...

to support Joudeh. On 20 May 2021, Joudeh performed during the interval of the second semi-final of

Eurovision Song Contest 2021 The Eurovision Song Contest 2021 was the 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Rotterdam, Netherlands, following the country's win at the with the song "Arcade" by Duncan Laurence. The Netherlands was set to host the , ...

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

alongside BMX-er Dez Maarsen.

References

External links

* Official website http://www.ahmadjoudeh.com/
Seeing Dance article, Dec. 2016 by David Mead

Dance Magazine December 2016 Lauren Wingenroth

Niewsuur Documentary Episode 1, 2016 Joudeh and his mother visit the ruins of his family home in Palmyra, dances in the ancient Theatre of Palmyra
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIk2vfl_Sz8 Niewsuur]
Documentary Episode 2, 2016 Dance or Die, Roosbeh Kaboly (In English)

Nieuwsuur Documentary, Episode 3 January 11, 2017
Judeh meets his father first time in 11 years, interspersed with him dancing with Dutch National Ballet , in English and Arabic with subtitle

English translation of Joudeh audition for ''So You Think You Can Dance''

Ahmad Joudeh contemporary dance performance, ''So You Think You can Dance'', December 2014

Ahmad Joudeh Facebook page

Ahmad Joudeh YouTube video 2015

Ahmad Joudeh surprises the dance cast of ''Sound Of Silence''

Ahmad Joudeh YouTube video "Skin and Bones" 2016

Fusion YouTube July 7 2017

Danish ballet troupe performs dance created in honor of Joudeh
{{DEFAULTSORT:Joudeh, Ahmad Dutch male ballet dancers, National Ballet, Dutch

Dutch National Ballet The Dutch National Ballet (Dutch: Het Nationale Ballet) is the official and largest ballet company in the Netherlands. History The Dutch National Ballet was formed in 1961 when the Amsterdam Ballet and the Nederlands Ballet merged. The company h ...

Syrian dancers 1990 births Living people Dutch people of Syrian descent Dutch people of Palestinian descent Syrian emigrants to the Netherlands