Told by my Mother

This performance is about intimate family hardships and tragedies faced by mothers: bodies, voices, and hidden small battles within dwellings of Beirut and its suburbs. It brings together Laila Chahrour, the mother with her son Abbas, who decided at 18, to join the ranks of the fighters; and Ali Chahrour, choreographer, dancer and Laila’s relative.  He shares the story of his aunt »Fatima« (also cousin to Laila), whose journey was to find her lost child »Hassan« that went missing in Syria, since 2013. Tagging along are the Syrian actress Hala Omran lending her whole-hearted voice to the story, accompanied by musicians Ali Hout and Abed Kobeissy. The performance’s musical approach take reference the songs of those very same families on occasions of grief and joy; a cultural heritage of Arab folk songs.

»Told by my mother« rehearsals began on the backdrop of Lebanon’s economic collapse and popular uprisings, crowned by the Corona pandemic, the many total lockdowns, and the explosion of the Beirut port on the 4th of August, which added the last blow to our city. The succession of events left us clueless, disillusioned after the summer of 2020, and still unable to cope, in a city in continuing deterioration.
Altering the very fabric on which our stories and references were once woven.
Shutting theaters’ doors.
Destroying rehearsal spaces.
Silencing singers.
Stopping dancers in their movement.

Nevertheless, »Told by my Mother« was premiered in Beirut in 2021, to save what remains of the project and dance the stories of our Mothers, voicing their intimate victories.

Born in Beirut, the choreographer and dancer Ali Chahrour, 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. In a previous series of shows, part of his trilogy »Death« – »Fatmeh« (2014), »Leila’s Death« (2015) and »May he Rise and smell the fragrance« (2017) – he summoned funeral liturgies mixing tradition with a sharp modernity.

He then undertook a second series of performances devoted to »Love«, with »Night«(2019), followed by »Told by my Mother« (2021),  »Iza Hawa« (2023) and concluded with »The Love Behind My Eyes« that won the ZKB Patronage prize at the 2022 Zurich Theater Spektakel.

Combining lyrical poetry and tangled bodies, Ali Chahrour's performances were presented at Avignon festival in 2016, 2018 and 2022 and in many other festivals around the world.

Currently, he is preparing to work on a new trilogy around the theme of fear.