Children's
Rana Gorgani, ambassador of Sufi dance in the West, offers a unique experience: a sensory dive into the Sufi universe.
With this artistic creation, the whirling dervish presents different aspects of Sufism, where spirituality, symbolism and socio-cultural reality are intertwined.
Through her words and her body, she weaves links between the arts: poetry, miniatures, architecture, music and of course dance.
This event is not only a transmission of rarely shared Sufi knowledge but also a dance performance.
The artist, trained in the anthropology of dance and ethnomusicology, shares her knowledge of Sufism with us. Far from the academic and educational aspect, this conference adapts to the public and is intended to be interactive.
In a conservatory, the content will focus on music, in a library, on poetry and sacred texts...
A true mystical quest, Sufism is above all an inner search, a deep listening to one's being, through meditation, music or states of trance...
Dance, a way of understanding the universe, is notably introduced thanks to the poetry of Rûmî. This XNUMXth century Persian mystical poet puts Love at the heart of this quest.
"There are many paths that lead to God and I chose the path of music and dance.” – Rumi –
The links between Sufi dance and the natural cycles of the Earth, the stars, the cosmos, and the universe are exposed, while making connections with other Islamic arts such as calligraphy or miniatures.
“Do you know why the disciples of love, in the middle of their dances, raise and wave their arms? It is the door of the divine effluvia which is opening before them at this moment, and, by this inspired gesture, they seem to push back the whole creation. – Saadi –
This introduction to Sufi dance has a strong bias: that of the feminine. In a world where whirling dervishes are mostly men, Rana Gorgani sheds new light thanks to her particularity as a whirling dervish woman. The major mystical symbols of Sufism are introduced. They are identical in architecture, miniatures, poetry or dance movements. In Sufi dance, each gesture carries a strong poetic symbolism. The sun, the candle, the rose or even the perfume: these metaphorical and sacred elements each have a meaning that nourishes the steps of the dancers.
The different countries where Sufi dance is practiced today are presented. Iran, Turkey, Egypt, Afghanistan, Syria or Iraq: the particularities of dance in each territory are traced. The historical aspect is approached by explaining in what framework the dance developed or was suppressed. Different periods are evoked, going up to 2000 years before Our era.
A time for questions and answers closes the show.
The danced interludes flesh out the conference. The Sufi spinning, a real upward spiral, touches the spectator in his intimacy, a heart-to-heart and soul-to-soul dialogue.
Music plays a major role : the result of extensive research, the soundtrack reveals the richness of Sufi music.
As an option, a musician can also perform certain pieces live, making the discovery more lively.
“The strength of the body in motion no longer leaves room for the psyche.
It is a new encounter with oneself that operates.
The movement of the turner is the emancipation of the soul.
This spinning motion sweeps everything away, the only thing left is the breath. ”
- Rana Gorgani -
Photos, reproductions of paintings, soundtracks but also dance costumes: high quality collections are unveiled.
The artist presents images from archives that you won't find elsewhere, whether they are Persian miniatures, unpublished Persian paintings, with certain shots dating from the 1930s.
Some soundtracks are recordings made especially for this show and most of the music is difficult to access by the general public.
The texts and poems of Persian authors such as Rûmî, Hafez, Attar, Saadi or Shoravardi are shared, they are at the heart of the research work of Rana Gorgani 30 over years.
“To a disciple saying to him:
I've come a long way
to meet you,
The master to answer:
A single step would have been enough for you, if you had put yourself
on the way from your soul.”
- Shoravardi -
Through this event, the spectator understands that religion or meditation are not the only ways of entering spirituality. Poetry, writing, painting or dancing are other possible paths.
The whirling dervish manifests that the Sufi spirituality is not only intellectual, she is above all the research beauty through experience. Sufism is then accessible to all, at the antipodes of an elitist and closed dogma.
Rana Gorgani shares a universal message present in all cultures and traditions, a message from beauty, love and peace.
“O day, arise,
The atoms dance, the distraught souls
of ecstasy dance.
By ear I will tell you where the dance leads.”
– Rumi –
THIS EVENT IS NOT
A presentation on religious art
A lesson in rhetoric
A historic conference
An academic interpretation
THIS EVENT IS
A new form of spectacle
A spotlight on Sufi dance
A musical and poetic discovery
A presentation of an art still little known,
recognized as intangible cultural heritage
of UNESCO
THIS CONFERENCE HAS ALREADY BEEN PRESENTED
As part of the Islamic Arts exhibition at the Louvre in Tourcoing
At the conservatory of Joigny-Le-Pont
Carré d'Argent, City Theater of Pont-Château
Media library of the AME in Montargis
Plural Blue Festival in Trégueux
Persian Letters Association in Paris
Rana Gorgani revolutionizes Sufi dance. While she is one of the rare female whirling dervishes, she elevates Sufi dance to the rank of spiritual art. Born in 1984 in Germany to an Iranian mother and a Kurdish father, Rana Gorgani grew up in France, where she lives today. As a teenager, she joined a Sufi brotherhood. Since then, this spirituality has fueled his thought and his art.
In 2009,, Rana Gorgani founded the company “l'Œil Persan”, the first company to promote traditional dances from the Persian world in Europe.
Prestigious collaborations are born: with the Guimet Museum, with the Arab World Institute, etc.
In 2014,, she is starting a Master's degree in dance anthropology. She carries out her research work among one of the nomadic peoples of Iran. Even if they are not Sufis, they live daily as this spirituality requires. Rana Gorgani then realizes: everything belongs to everyone.
In 2016,, with the end of her research, she decides not to perform any more traditional dances, where she does not feel authentic, and devotes herself to Sufi dance.
In 2017,, she accepts the invitation of Marie-Agnès Gillot, star of the Ballet de l'Opéra, to dance at a carte blanche event in Paris. It is a success and the beginning of many collaborations with great artists such as the duo Birds on a Wire, the choreographer Dimitri Chamblas, the group Haïdouti Orkestar, the choreographer Mehdi Kerkouche, the pianist Simon Ghraichy, etc. She dances at the Institut de France, at the Institut du Monde Arabe, at the Festival 1001 notes…
She shares her practice with as many people as possible by participating in the documentary Les chemins du sacre by Frédéric Lenoir for ARTE. She is regularly invited to dance and teach at many festivals in France and abroad: the Festival On danse chez vous at the Théâtre National de Chaillot, the Festival des Suds in Arles, the Balbek Festival in Lebanon, the Al-Burda Festival to Dubai…
Through his numerous artistic collaborations, through each of her performances and through her shared knowledge and know-how, this virtuoso is undoubtedly the greatest ambassador of Sufi spirituality in the West.
DURATION
between 60 minutes and 90 minutes.
FOR ALL
Starting from 7 years old. 1 artist (may be accompanied by a musician).
MINIMUM STAGE SPACE
3m x 4m. The show is played in a frontal relationship with the public. It adapts to any type of place where you can make enough darkness for the video-projections.
GEAR
1 desk, screen, video projector with sound system, 1 hf lavalier microphone or wireless table supplied by the host structure
DECOR, ACCESSORIES
supplied by the artist.
LIGHTS
ensured by a manager of the place hosting the danced conference. Provide enough distance between the screen and the playing space to be able to enlighten the artist without causing the images in the slide show to disappear.
VIDEO CONTROL
provided by the artist with remote control provided by the organizer. Slideshow on Keynote, mac + VGA cable provided by the company.
ASSEMBLY TIME
45 minutes
REPEAT TIME
if possible a service, the day before and/or 2h the day of the show.
LODGE
provide a quiet dressing room with mirror and correct lighting for make-up + water + dried fruit.
TO NOTE
"Sufi dance" workshops for all audiences can precede or follow this conference.
