• 1

• Dance
• Performance + Artist Talk
• mothers
• resilience
• memories

• Sa., 06.06.2026, 20:00

Artist Talk following 'Told by My Mother'

A tribute to mothers and their strife for resilience: inspired by his own family history and the collective memories of the Lebanese people, Ali Chahrour explores the power of love and tenderness in the face of loss and loneliness. After the performance there will be an artist talk.

• 1©Christophe Raynaud de Lage. “I believe that my aunt Fatima did not die of the cancer that ate away at her lungs. She died the moment she lost hope of finding her missing son Hassan.“ (Ali Chahrour)

Choreographer and dancer Ali Chahrour paints a raw and deeply moving portrait of the mothers of Lebanon, without embellishment. But the images of mourning and sorrow cannot be separated from the current horrors in the Middle East. Petra Pölzl, curator at HAU Hebbel am Ufer, will moderate the artist talk in Englisch.

About the Venue

HAU Hebbel am Ufer (HAU2)

HAU Hebbel am Ufer, with its three venues HAU1, HAU2 und HAU3 and the digital stage HAU4 is a paragon of current artistic positions at the interface of theatre, dance and performance. In addition, music, visual art and theoretical debates are a constant component of the wide-ranging programme.

About the piece

Told by My Mother

Without sugar-coating anything, the dancer and choreographer Ali Chahrour paints an unvarnished and deeply moving portrait of the mothers of Lebanon – a country that has been scarred by conflict for years, threatened by attacks from Israel and suffering under pressure from neighbouring Syria. 'Told by My Mother' is rooted in authentic, intimate and deeply moving stories – stories of iconic mothers and their families, some of whom have been scattered or have disappeared. These are narratives preserved so that memory lives on and what remains is honoured.
One of the three central stories in 'Told by My Mother' tells of Ali Chahrour’s aunt Fatima, who lost her son in Syria in 2015. Until her death in 2018, she searched tirelessly for him, without ever gaining certainty about his fate. 

About the People

Ali Chahrour

Ali Chahrour is a choreographer and dancer from Lebanon. He invents a gesture, freed from Western codes and models, which acts as a reflection of his culture and the political, social and religious context in which he evolves. Combining lyrical poetry, raw emotion and tangled bodies, crafting a vivid tapestry of human connection, Ali Chahrour’s performances were presented at Avignon festival and at many other international festivals and theatres around the world.
The live music by Ali Hout and Abed Kobeissy (percussion and buzouk) draws on the songs of those very families, sung in moments of both grief and joy.