Direction and Choreography: Ali Chahrour / Performance: Hala Omran, Chadi Aoun, Ali Chahrour / Music: Abed Kobeissy / Light design, Scenography, Technical director: Guillaume Tesson / Production manager: Christel Salem / Communication manager: Chadi Aoun / Copywriting: Isabelle Aoun / Translation to French: Hoda Jaffal, Labiba Chaiban
“The love behind my eyes,
Bequeathed by you know whom
Is all you can see.
That love is my demise
Withering me to this
For all eyes to see”
Can you die of a broken heart? The moving dance piece “The Love Behind My Eyes” explores the forbidden love between two people and the religious, political, and social taboos that surround it. A silent protest against the suppression of (love) stories deemed 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 the Arabic language, fell in love with Mohamed Ben Jamea, a young man from Isfahan. Ultimately, it is said, the scholar died of a broken heart.
In “The Love Behind My Eyes,” the body becomes the voice of the unspeakable. Chahrour draws inspiration for this work from love stories of the Arab world and from ghasal, a pre-Islamic Arab-Persian form of poetry, and combines them with dance in his characteristic style. Accompanied by the haunting vocals of Hala Omran, two performers demonstrate how desire and loss are inextricably intertwined. The fate of the lovers remains uncertain, but one thing becomes clear: even forbidden love endures.
With “The Love Behind My Eyes,” Ali Chahrour concludes his trilogy on the theme of love. In 2024, the HAU already presented “Iza Hawa,” a piece from this series.
In the 2026 edition of the tanz yearbook, critic Sandra Luzina named Ali Chahrour among the dance artists with the brightest prospects:
“Ali Chahrour’s dance pieces are inspired by the people he meets and the hidden stories he has stumbled upon in the streets and alleys of Beirut. ‘I feel the need to tell stories to keep them alive,’ is his artistic credo. He combines storytelling with music and dance in a way all his own. For him, the body is the vessel of memories. (...) He admitted he was exhausted. Although he already has an idea for a new piece, given the escalating situation in Lebanon, working on it is out of the question. But Ali Chahrour will carry on and continue to collect stories that need to be told. That gives us hope.” (Sandra Luzina, Jahrbuch tanz 2026)
Additional press reviews:
“(...) Among them is the beguilingly beautiful, fantastically lit dance piece “The Love Behind My Eyes” by the young Lebanese choreographer Ali Chahrour, in which he and another man (Chadi Aoun) express homoerotic desire through body language so intensely, so full of pleasure and pain, 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)
Team
Dates
Current
Price: 17–29 €, reduced 9–20 €
Combi tickets “Love is a Verb #2” (excluding the concert on 6.10.):
3 events for 30–50 €, reduced 20–40 €
6 events for 60–90 €, reduced 40–60 €
Credits
Produktion: Ali Chahrour.
Koproduktion: Kunstfest Weimar, Culture Resource, Les Rencontres à l’échelle Festival, Marseille, Hammana Artist House, Houna Center, Art Jameel.
Location
HAU2
Hallesches Ufer 34, 10963 BerlinThere are two marked parking spots in front of the building. Barrier-free restroom facilities are available. Four relaxed seats are available in the first row of HAU2.
