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Created in / Création: 2018-2022 – Duration / Durée: 50 min – Concept, Direction, Choreography / Conception, mise en scène & Chorégraphie: Mehdi Farajpour – Sound Art / Son: Mehdi Farajpour
Performers (2022): Fiona Witherell, Adele Gabbanelli, Jeanne Lakits
Produced by ORIANTHEATRE Dance Company – Supported by BND (Birmingham Dance Network) in frame Birmingham International Dance Festival (UK), Vivid Projects (UK), Théâtre de l’Oulle (FR) & Digital Village (FR), PUF (Croatia).
Thank you to the previous performers:
2019- Neus Canalias Avila, Églantine Chauchaix & Tabea Wittulsky
2018- Shelley Eva Haden, Claire Lambert & Laura Vanhulle
ABOUT:
SoundGraphy is a taboo-breaking political piece. It is both visually and politically inspired by an ancient theatrical form from Iran called Ta’zieh- a traditional and ongoing theatre act involving the entire town, practised exclusively by the men. SoundGraphy dissects the socio-politics of war, rivalry, controversy, and patriarchy. While SoundGraphy takes its inspiration from Ta’zieh, it immediately navigates in an opposite political direction. It addresses questions such as: How, through the continuation of such practices, are we enabling certain forms of domination? How can we subvert this? By taking the source of domination and flipping it (as SoundGraphy does), can we simultaneously highlight and overthrow such problematic politics? What is at stake if we refuse to destabilize these intersectional breeding grounds, however small?
CONCEPT:
SoundGraphy is a technology based performance using Movement Reactive Sound Sensors on the bodies of the performers, approaching a new notion of dance: Dematerialised Dance.
SoundGraphy, visually is inspired by an ancient theatrical form from Iran called Ta’zieh that is being performed by non-professional, ordinary men as a religious practice in memory of a martyred Imam. No women were historically allowed to take part in this practice, except as spectators.
In SoundGraphy, three female dancers, representing these men of Ta’zieh, are creating music by moving their bodies (Sensors) into different positions. Without movement there is no sound. In other words, SoundGraphy is a collaborative musical composition where sound takes precedence over dance. A musical atmosphere created through movement.
Dans SoundGraphy, les trois danseuses, représentant les trois personages de Ta’zieh, sont équipées de capteurs sonores reliés par Bluetooth à un logiciel produit spécifiquement pour ce projet. La composition musicale est à créer par les danseuses en fonction de leurs mouvements qui rends chaque representation unique et different au niveau de la sonorité.