New circus about homosexuality and Islam

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He swings at the top of a six-meter high bar as if the law of gravity – or physical limitations – did not exist. Sadiq Ali’s character wears a white tunic and sings some phrases from the Koran about walking the right path – but that is also the only verbal element of the performance.

Sadiq Ali is trained at the National Center for Circus Arts in London. Equilibristic acrobatics on the Chinese pole is his specialty, but not to make art for art’s sake but to portray a story.

– It feels like it is a very important step that we are taking, this is a different story than the one you are used to seeing, especially in the circus. I am very proud of this performance, he says on the phone from London.

Own and others’

After a celebrated premiere in London in 2022 and then the Fringe festival in Edinburgh, Sadiq Ali and his colleague Alexandre Duran Davins have more or less found themselves on tour: now the Kulturhuset Stadsteatern in Stockholm (March 10 and 11) is waiting, but later this year guest performances they also in Malmö. The performance reflects a love story between two men, one of whom is secure in his sexual identity and the other is not.

“The chosen haram” is rooted in Sadiq Ali’s own experiences but also in interviews with other LGBTQ people who have been or still are Muslims.

— Even though it’s similar issues, people’s experiences are so different depending on structures, on social support, on their sexuality – whether you’re open or still in the closet. It gave me the courage and insight into the importance of this work, but also the passion to do it.

As a young gay man, Sadiq Ali found it difficult to reconcile what he had been taught about his faith with his sexual identity. The show is not only about love, but also about feelings of shame about sexuality, which in turn leads to destructiveness and drug abuse.

Does not take a stand

The response during the audience talks afterwards has been enormous, says Sadiq Ali, who has made a point of not making any political statements or saying what is possible or not for the person of faith.

— For me, it was important to create a story that touches on these questions, that allows people to talk about them without giving any answers.

TT: Does it end happily?

— Ha ha, you can come and see for yourself.

Alexandre Duran Davins and Sadiq Ali express themselves through Chinese pole acrobatics. Press photo.

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