A pulsating work that pays homage to Iran’s Shiraz Arts Festival

With minimal, hypnotic, uninterrupted movements that create mosaics on stage, Armin Hokmi revives the infinite power of dance.

Is there a way to revive a festival through a singular dance performance?

Shiraz, choreographed by Armin Hokmi, is a work inspired by the Shiraz Arts Festival, which took place yearly between 1967 and 1977 in southern Iran. Hokmi, together with the team, places it into our present day in the form of a revival, by giving it a new appearance through a dance performance.

More than a tribute, Shiraz is a new vision. It investigates the link between dance and place, between gestures and history, between memory and invention. The six dancers trace ever-evolving paths, bringing the past onto the stage and transforming it into the present. An act of sharing, movement and rebirth.

Shiraz brings to the forefront the collective work of remembering and dancing together. A practice of love. A pulsating dance imbued with a sense of enchantment and longing.

Co-production: Festival Montpellier Danse 2024, Rosendal Teater (Trondheim), Dansehallerne (Copenhagen), Black
Box teater (Oslo), Tanzfabrik (Berlin)
Supported by: Arts Council Norway, Nordic Culture Fund, FFUK, Nordic Culture Point, The Finnish Cultural
Foundation.
Residency support: Montpellier Danse, Tanzfabrik (Berlin), Lake Studios (Berlin), Uferstudios (Berlin), DAVVI
Center for Performing Arts Hammerfest
Research period supported by Dis-Tanzen

Header image description: Five performers, each wearing casual clothes. They stand at random angles with their hands in front of their faces.

Header image © Hokmi Kiasaraei