Marah Haj Hussein (she/her) is a Palestinian dancer, actress, and theatre maker. She studied dance at the Royal Conservatoire (Antwerp) and drama at KASK (Ghent). By combining dance and theatre in her work, she challenges the divide between text and movement, seeking ways to integrate both within the performative space. Her practice frequently brings theatre and dance together through physical, political and poetic encounters on stage.
Drawing on her own multilingual background - Palestinian Arabic, Hebrew, English, and Dutch - she explores how languages are shaped by colonial history, migration, and political power dynamics. Furthermore, Marah investigates colonial body languages and the profound influence they exert, engaging in processes of both learning and unlearning. In doing so, she connects intimate personal experiences with broader societal and political questions concerning identity, memory, power, and resistance.
In 2023, she won the Roel Verniers Prize at Het TheaterFestival, and in 2025, she received the Acteursgilde Theatre Prize - awarded for the most highly regarded acting performance by an artist under 35 - for her solo Language: no broblem. As a performer, Marah has also collaborated with choreographers and theatre makers such as Alain Platel & Bérengère Bodin, Frank Dierens, and Chokri Ben Chikha. She is currently performing in Badke (remix) by LaGeste/Stereo48 and Darling(s) by Moya Michael/KVS.
In Language: no broblem (2024), Marah Haj shares personal memories from her time in Belgium, reflecting on the languages through which she expresses herself. The performance moves between languages, geographies, voices, and imagination, and serves as an exploration of multilingualism.
The dance piece In relation to whom? مرتاحة؟, by Marah and Nur Garabli, premiered in the spring of 2026. Both performances are touring extensively in Belgium and abroad.
