Ali Chahrour

Venue: HAU2

Part of “Love is a Verb #2”

“The Love Behind My Eyes, Bequeathed by You Know WhoMis All You Can See. That Love Is My DemiseWithering Me to ThisFor All Eyes to See”

(Mohamad Ben Daoud, translated and adapted by Isabelle Aoun)

Can you die from a broken heart? The moving dance piece “The Love Behind My Eyes” is about the forbidden love between two people and the associated religious, political and social taboos. A silent protest against the suppression of (love) stories considered illegitimate.

The internationally acclaimed Lebanese director, choreographer and performer Ali Chahrour tells the tragic story of a forbidden relationship between two men: Mohamed Ben Daoud, a theologian who taught Islamic law and Arabic language, fell in love with Mohamed Ben Jamea, a youth from Isfahan. It is said that the scholar finally died of heartsickness.

In “The Love Behind My Eyes,” the body becomes the voice of the unspeakable. Chahrour is inspired to work by love stories from the Arab world and by Ghasal, an Arabic-Persian form of poetry from the pre-Islamic period, and combines them with dance in a way that is characteristic of him. The two performers, Ali Chahrour himself and Chadi Aoun, show, flanked by the haunting vocals of Hala Omran, how desire and loss are inextricably intertwined. The fate of the lovers remains uncertain, but one thing becomes clear: Even forbidden love persists.

With “The Love Behind My Eyes,” Ali Chahrour concludes his trilogy on the theme of love. In 2024, HAU already presented a piece from this series with “Iza Hawa”.

Press reviews: In the yearbook “Dance” 2026, Ali Chahour was selected by critic Sandra Luzina among the dance actors with the best views: “Ali Chahrour's dance pieces are inspired by the people he meets, by the hidden stories he came across in the streets and alleys of Beirut. “I feel the need to tell stories in order to keep them alive, is his artistic credo. He combines storytelling with music and dance in his very own way. His body is a carrier of memories. (...) ' He confessed that he was exhausted. Although he already had an idea for a new piece, work was out of the question in view of the aggravated situation in Lebanon. But Ali Chahrour will continue and collect stories that need to be told. That gives hope.”

“(...) These include the beguiling, fantastically illuminated dance piece “The Love Behind My Eyes” by the young Lebanese choreographer Ali Chahrour, who, together with another man (Chadi Aoun), expresses homoerotic desire so intensely, pleasantly and painfully that it takes your breath away.” (Christine Dössel, Süddeutsche Zeitung)

“Choreographer Ali Chahrour's dance knows a love that is seismic, shifting the ground on which someone stands but also dangerous enough to crack it into pieces. There may be flashes of passion in “The Love Behind My Eyes,” a dance revolving around two men in Arabic Lebanon, but there is violence too. The opening scene is a heartbroken riposte to a former lover, as a grave-faced Leila Chahrour describes a break-up that is not unlike a murder scene.” (Chris McCormack, Feeling Good/Dublin Dance Festival)