Video of dancing on Sulaimani’s streets breaks the internet

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Video footage of a couple dancing in Sulaimani on Friday night broke the internet, prompting outrage from many who see the act as “disrespectful” during the holy month of Ramadan.

Founders of M&T Dance Academy in Erbil, Mohammed Khalid (Moe) from Iraq and Tefany Kourieh from Syria, performed for the crowds on Sulaimani’s Salim street on Friday evening. The performance lasted around four minutes, during which tens of people gathered around the area and were taking videos and pictures of the dance partners dancing bachata.

The dancers were met with a massive round of applause from the audience after they finished.

“We did not prepare for it, it was totally unplanned and spontaneous, we went for coffee, they put on our favorite song, and we just had to dance on it,” Kourieh told Rudaw’s Horvan Rafaat on Saturday.

“If they think about it that way, then we are sorry, we did not mean to disrespect anything,” Moe added. “Our main goal is to share love, peace, and happiness, and this is what we do, this is what dance is for, it is an art.”

Videos posted online of the performance soon went viral, with scores of people shaming the couple, saying the dancing was disrespectful to the Kurdish culture and standards, especially during Ramadan.

Some commenters went as far as to issue calls for violence and the killing of the performers, criticizing the audience for not having stopped them.

“In the middle of the city, I have been here with my family multiple times, this crime in the month of Ramadan challenges everything,” Sozan Hussein, a lawyer, told Rudaw on Saturday, after she held a press conference near the place of the performance. “I call on the general prosecutor, the governor, and Asayish to come on line.”

Former Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) parliament member Haji Karwan also strongly criticized the dancing as well.

“No one with morals, religion, and dignity would accept this, because this encourages our youth to be driven away from religion, if they want to dance, there are many halls that they can dance all day, and no one would care,” he told Rudaw’s Bestoon Khalid on Saturday, criticizing Kourieh’s choice of clothing.

“If any of us has dignity and courage, we would not let our sisters, our wives, and our daughters be like that,” he said.

Haji Karwan was not the only person with comments on the performance. Shadi Nawzad, A member of the Kurdistan Region parliament’s human rights committee expressed her support for the dancers.

“This is a performance and dance is part of art, and art needs to reach people. I believe it is their freedom to perform like that,” Nawzad told Khalid on Saturday. “This is not a crime, and they should not be punished.”

Sulaimani governor told local media on Saturday that these two people were not residents of the province, but emphasized that dancing and expressing joy is a part of the local culture. 

Askandar Amin, the owner of the street cafe where the performance happened told Rudaw English earlier on Saturday that he had received several threats throughout the day.

“I have received phone calls saying we will burn down your place, and saying they would close it down,” Amin said.

A group of Islamic Studies students gathered on Saturday evening at the spot the dancing took place and performed a mass prayer.

"Inshallah, this is not an insult or an attack on anyone. We are here to pray on the street," one of the attending imams told Rafaat before the prayer.