A belly dancer turns grief into joy after fatal attack on Berlin’s Pride festival

Haidar Darwish, a Syrian belly dancer with the Berlin-based LGBTQ collective Queens Against Borders, performs during an open-air show in Berlin, Germany, July 17 [AP Photo]

Haidar Darwish, a Syrian belly dancer and artist, took the stage at Berlin’s Museum Island wearing a flamboyant hoop skirt and red fez. He asked the audience for a moment of silence and then said the show must go on — despite a fatal attack on the city’s Pride celebrations that has plunged the LGBTQ+ community into mourning.

“Yesterday there was an attack and a hate crime on our community in Berlin during the Pride Parade,” he told the crowd Sunday night, struggling to keep his emotions in check.

“It’s heavy on our community but we are pushing through, and we are here specifically today, myself and my artists, to show up and be visible,” Darwish said.

Saturday night’s van ramming and stabbing near Berlin’s Pride festival that left one person dead and almost 30 wounded was an extremist terror attack, authorities said.

The suspect was killed by police Sunday evening. Authorities said Abdul Ballout, a 21-year-old German-born citizen with Lebanese roots, apparently ran toward officers with a sharp instrument and police fired at least one shot.

Some officials question how Ballout had been able to move freely in Germany following a conviction linked to his ties to the Islamic State group.

Darwish, who fled from Syria in 2016, was on stage Sunday with Queens Against Borders, a performance group created to build solidarity with refugees, migrants and immigrants from the LGBTQ+ community. Also on stage were an Egyptian belly dancer, Aleya, and a Nigerian drag performer, Countess Sasha Seduction.

Pushing aside the pain, Darwish began spinning like a traditional Anatolian dervish, his red skirt billowing in a graceful cone. Traditional Arabic melodies filled the space, growing louder and faster as Darwish stripped off his skirt and, to cheers, began performing belly dance moves.

“We’re trying our best, to be honest, in these weird, horrible times to create a stage where we can be present,” the 30-year-old Darwish, who goes by “The Darvish,” told The Associated Press.

He stressed that it was especially important for them to perform on the night after the attack for a wider audience outside their LGBTQ+ community that included Berliners of all backgrounds as well as many foreign tourists.

Nonetheless, he said that “we are tired to constantly be put in a position where we have to fight endlessly.”

He said the dancers could easily stay home but “we can also put grief into joy.”

Darwish and the other performers danced until the audience leaped from their chairs and joined in, transforming an otherwise sad and somber night. FANNY BRODERSEN & KIRSTEN GRIESHABER, BERLIN, MDT/AP