How did you get involved in dance?
I grew up in East Jerusalem in a very athletic family, so I was always involved in sports. Between 2005 and 2007, I was the champion of Palestine in swimming. In 2007, I was performing at the highest competitive level and became the number one swimmer in Palestine. But because I lived in East Jerusalem, I wasn’t officially recognized as Palestinian and I didn’t have a Palestinian passport so I was effectively stateless.
I was invited to join the West YMCA in the western part of Jerusalem. It was clear to everyone there that I was an elite swimmer. At one point I was asked to compete in the Olympics, but the condition was that I take an Israeli passport and represent Israel. My parents and I discussed it, and we refused. That’s when I stopped swimming. It was very sad, but I couldn’t accept what they were asking me to do.
What happens then?
I had always been fascinated by my sister, who was a ballet dancer. I used to pick her up from class and would watch her lessons to see what she was learning. After I left swimming, I began dancing, starting with Dabke.
At first, I wasn’t accepted anywhere, but eventually I joined a Dabke company that needed male dancers. I kept working and training until I was finally accepted. That’s how my dance career began and while I loved Dabke, I was always searching for more. I wanted to learn Ballet and Contemporary dance as well.
How does your career develop?
In the beginning, I was mostly teaching myself. I would watch my sister’s dance classes, take notes, and then practice the steps alone at home. I also learned from YouTube and other online sources.
Then I became seriously ill. I had a heart condition that made any physical activity dangerous even walking would push my heart rate above 160 beats per minute. For about a year and a half, I couldn’t do any physical activity at all. But during that time, I trained myself mentally as a dancer. I would lie in bed imagining and dreaming how I would move, how I would perform certain steps, and I built the image of myself as a dancer entirely in my mind.
What happens when you recover?
After a year and a half, my health completely healed after I finished the treatment. I started dancing again and joined Oushaq Dance Centre, where the Ouf Dabke Troupe was based. I became one of the lead dancers there, but even then I was hungry to grow further.
Eventually, I travelled to the London Contemporary Dance School to take classes. After three months in London, I returned to East Jerusalem and continued to evolve, setting up my own dance company.
That seems very ambitious.
I believe dance is my true language. It’s how I communicate fully with others. I wanted to set up a company to teach young people dance not just as movement, but as a way to express their emotions and their identity. Most importantly, I wanted our work to include what it means to be Palestinian: our struggles, our daily realities, our stories.
Just to go back a little—did you have support at home for your choices?
Living in East Jerusalem is challenging because it’s such a political hotspot, and people live under constant pressure. My family supports me now, but at first, my mother wasn’t convinced that I could build a career as a dancer. She was very protective, worried that I would face stereotypes and that it wouldn’t be sustainable. In the early days, she would tell people I was just a Dabke dancer. But when she saw me succeed especially when I was recognized as a contemporary dancer she became fully supportive. She appreciated that I used my dancing to tell Palestinian stories and work with young people. She’s still overprotective, but now she’s proud of what I do.
What about support at school?
When I was very young, I was diagnosed with diabetes. My school supported me, giving me time to check my glucose levels but I’ll admit, I sometimes used that time to escape and go to the theatre to learn more about dance.
Later, when I began organizing productions, my school actually invited me to teach other students. The group I coached won first place in Jerusalem’s Dabke championships three years in a row.
Do you go on to formally study dance?
I began by taking short classes and workshops in London at the London Contemporary Dance School, and then in Italy, France, New York, and Brazil, usually for three months at a time.
My family originally wanted me to study business or architecture. But when I met a wonderful teacher in London, Pip Duke, she told me I should focus on dance. She even spoke to my mother directly to convince her.
Dance became your career?
Yes. I did study at a Business School, and after I graduated in 2017, I used those skills to grow my own company. In 2018, I decided to study for a Master’s degree in Choreography and Dance at Liverpool John Moores University.
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