„TARAB by Ulduz Ahmadzadeh“ _ im Interview_ Desi Bonato_dancer, choreographer_Wien 9.10.2022

**Desi Bonato_dancer, choreographer_Wien**

Dear Desi, your are part of the dance project TARAB by Ulduz Ahmadzadeh. What is it about?

Tarab is a dance piece which has the intention to present on a european/western stage, traditional dances from Iran. The aim is to embody these dances to give voice to the people that still practise them with the purpose of healing, for the sense of community, for resistance, to pass on the tradition which is intertwined with beliefs and spiritual practices.

The choreographer Ulduz Ahmadzadeh guided us to dive into iranian culture by sharing spiritual practices, traditional steps, instruments and rhytmical patterns on which we build up the choreography

The piece is also about showing how the role of women has changed with the years, by presenting a solid and equal community at the beginning of the piece, where everyone has a specific and important individual role, for later underline the polarization between men and women. A clear submission and serving role for the girls and stong masculine attitude for the boys. Eventually we play also with sarcasm and shif of roles to make fun of it and shows how twisted and sad this polarization is. The piece doesn’t want to make a statement of that because the main focus is to give voice and spaces to these dances, how they can be integrated in our European contemporary dance environment and be the inspiration for our dance material.

What means the word „Tarab“?

Loosely translated to “enchantment,” tarab is an Arabic word describing a deep, stirring musical performance that launches the audience into a trance-like state of ecstasy.

How do you develop the project as a dancer and choreographer?

As mentioned above, the starting point of the creation began with learning the traditional dances from different regions of Iran, understanding their meaning and intentions. The main focus is on movement. We got inspired also by traditional paintings, textures, patterns in the carpets, in ceramics and from the visual element we will have on stage. Costumes, lights etc.

How important is music in „Tarab“?

The music is essential to the piece and it’s played live by Mohammad Reza, who is known as the man with the fastest hands in the world. As TARAB means the moment where the music takes over the body (and the mind controlling it), the music is supporting all the different dances, makes the atmosphere and allows us dancers to enjoy fully the movement.

When and where are the performance dates?

TARAB will Premiere on Thursday 13th October at 7.30pm in Tanz Quartier Wien, Halle G. Second and last chance to see would be Friday 14th October, same place, same hour.

TARAB
Konzept, Choreografie Ulduz Ahmadzadeh Konzept, Szenografie Till Krappmann Komposition, Live-Musik Mohammad Reza Mortazavi Tanz, Choreografie Desi Bonato, Naline Ferraz, Flora Virag, Luca Major, Ofer Dayani, Axel Hampusson, Jassi Murad Lichtdesign Jan Wielander Produktion Julia Haas, Mascha Mölkner Szenografie in Kollaboration mit Alice Ursini – Eine Koproduktion von ATASH عطش contemporary dance company und Tanzquartier Wien.

https://tqw.at/event/tarab-ahmadzadeh/