‘Nutcracker’ Arabian dancer lives by the personal motto ‘Dance or Die’

In “The Nutcracker,” when Clara is entertained by a trio of divertissements (diversions) in the Land of Sweets, dances from around the world — the “Arabian Dance,” “Chinese Dance” and “Russian Dance” are a highlight of the ballet.

Since the 19th century, however, Western culture has stereotyped the Arabian dance, and in more recent years, it has been criticized for its lack of authenticity.

Oftentimes, for instance, audiences will see a male dancer performing with a ballerina dressed as a belly dancer.

The Golden State Ballet’s production of “The Nutcracker” opening Friday at the San Diego Civic Theatre, offers a refreshing surprise.

Ahmad Joudeh, an Arab dancer and choreographer, is performing the Arabian pas de deux with Celyna Tran, demonstrating traditional Middle Eastern movement integrated with classical ballet.

“I worked with artistic director Raul Salamanca and helped to choreograph,” Joudeh said enthusiastically.

“You can see the woman dancing the sama dance but shaped into classical ballet. When the man enters the stage, there’s a lot of the arm movements inspired by the Sufi dance. I also was inspired by Egyptian hieroglyphics, found on the walls of the pyramids. Before the war, I perform those styles when I was in the ballet company in Syria and we did a lot of these kinds of dances. It’s where I started.”

Joudeh was born in 1990 in a Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus, Syria. From his childhood days, dance represented an avenue to freedom and purpose.

But the challenges he faced were nearly insurmountable.

Joudeh trained at the Enana Dance Theatre in Damascus and showed great promise, but his father violently disapproved of a dance career and demanded that he choose a different path.

And while traditional folk dances, such as the athletic stomping dance known as the Dabke and the whirling Sufi are acceptable, a male ballet dancer performing in the European sense is in conflict with strict Islamic standards.

In December 2012, civil war broke out and Syrian Arab Army jets bombed the building in the refugee camp where Joudeh lived with many family members.

Five didn’t survive. His father moved to Germany as an asylum seeker.

Joudeh and his siblings remained in the war-torn area with their mother. As refugees, they were stateless, without citizenship and unable to have passports.

A traumatic turning point in Joudeh’s life was witnessing a young girl get shot and killed when she ran across the street. It led him to give free dance classes to orphaned children.

“I started thinking, how can I give back to the people,” he said.

“What can I do as an artist? Teaching children, and giving them some time to get away from the bombs helps them to appreciate their being and it gives them a good time. But that got known in the city and I got calls from unknown numbers saying they would cut off my head. Even today, there are channels in Syria that say I should be killed.”

Neither the threat of a beheading nor his father’s beatings could deter Joudeh from his desire to dance. On the back of his neck, in the spot where a blade might strike, he wears his motto, tattooed in black ink.

“It says ‘dance or die,’” he explained. “I chose to keep dancing. The artist has the same duty like the soldier, we fight for culture and art in our country.”

In 2014, Jouhad made it to the semifinals in the Arab version of “So You Think You Can Dance” and his performance made an impact on journalist and Dutch filmmaker Roozbeh Kaboly.

Kaboly produced an Emmy Award-winning documentary about Joudeh titled “Dance or Die” in 2016.

It showed Joudeh dancing on a rooftop in the ruins of the refugee camp and it aired on Dutch television, giving the dancer international exposure.

Joudeh was offered a scholarship from the Dutch National Ballet and he traveled to the Netherlands with a student visa.

He then was invited to join the company, and in 2021 he became a Dutch citizen.

The following year, Joudeh performed a solo accompanied by Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax at the opening concert for the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The WEF is a non-government organization and think tank, founded in 1971 and funded by about 1,000 members from multinational companies that brings together business and government leaders to address global challenges.

As a voice for stateless refugees, Joudeh was chosen to serve as a Young Global Leader (YGL), an organization created by WEF founder Klaus Schwab.

Next year, Joudeh will travel to Switzerland by invitation to participate in the 2026 World Economic Forum.

He said that people are often surprised by his life story, documented in his memoir, “Dance or Die: From Stateless Refugee to International Ballet Star.”

“I understand I’m an Arab man who is very tall — I’m 6’3 with a black beard,” Joudeh pondered.

“People think, ‘Who is this refugee coming from across the sea?’ But when they see me as a ballet dancer, they have a totally different idea about the whole Middle East.”

Golden State Ballet presents ‘The Nutcracker’

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday; 1 p.m. next Sunday; 7:30 p.m. Dec. 19; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 20; 1 and 5:30 p.m. Dec. 21

Where: San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave., downtown

Tickets: $58.40-$199.75. Youth discounts available

Online: goldenstateballet.org