Memory of a Phoenix Feather: Iranian Storytelling Traditions and Contemporary Theater, an article by Niloufar Talebi in the July/August 2009 issue of World Literature Today.

Naghali Then and Now

A brief history on the story-telling tradition in Iran and how it has evolved:Naghali, Pardeh-dari, Pardeh-khaani, Ghavali (minstrelsy), Shahnameh-khaani, are Iranian story-telling traditions, practiced usually in the streets and coffee houses, story-teller titles varying according to their style of story-telling and the subject matter of the stories told. Pardeh-dari and Pardeh-khaani are visual forms of story-telling done before a big cloth or canvas (pardeh) hung in a square, or the walls of a tea of coffee house, painted on which are the events of the story being told, which the story-teller would refer to during their recounting.

Coffee house paintings are Iranian-style paintings, in the tradition of miniatures, but with European techniques and material, oil on canvas or cloth, which people in the streets and bazaars started to develop about 80 years ago. This was an attempt to distance art from royal courts and bring it into the hands of the people. Unknown artists who had gained experience in tile paintings, were inspired to create simple images on coffee house walls by the work of story-tellers and Shahnameh-khaans (those reciting the Book of Kings by Ferdowsi, which is in 50,000 couplets, and contains the history and epics of the Persian people from the Creation up to roughly the 7th C. before the Arab/Islamic invasion).

Further readings:

The Islamic Drama: Taziyah – by Jamshid Malikpour; The History of Theater in Iran – by Willem Floor; Coffee House Paintings – Iran Chamber Society

Battle of Karballa Royal Painting

Pardeh of the same royal painting

Naghali in a Cofee House (Ghahveh Khaaneh)

Naghali in a cafe

Pardeh-dari

Naghali by females in Iran

Morshed Torabi demonstrating Shahnameh Naghali

Female Naghal

Our work is inspired by Iranian story-telling traditions. We perform new and contemporary Iranian poetry as our content, in both the Persian original and English translation. We also use multimedia video projections to create our Pardehs, and bring in other artists such as dancers and musicians on stage. We hope that this theatrical/literary tradition can find a place in American mainstream arts one day. To read about multimedia shows, ICARUS/RISE, and Persian Rite of Spring,  scroll down and visit links about the making of the show, the collaborative artists, and view youtube clips.

Niloufar Talebi reciting new Iranian poetry in Persian and English translation

ICARUS/RISE

ICARUS/RISE

ICARUS/RISE

ICARUS/RISE

Because of the multimedia nature of our work, we offer a variety of events that can be presented as stand-alones or in combination with other events.

1. Book event: BELONGING: New Poetry by Iranians Around the World

Read an excerpt from the Introduction

Edited and translated by Niloufar Talebi (North Atlantic Books, July 2008)
Event can include:
-Presentation by Ms. Talebi, with and without poets (4 live in the US, and 13 outside)
-Screening of Midnight Approaches, DVD of short films based on poetry featured in BELONGING
-Panel of scholars/writers/poets/artists contextualizing this literature, etc.

2. ICARUS/RISE – Multimedia theatrical production of new Iranian poetry:

ICARUS/RISE is a provocative and emotional multimedia theatrical performance of new Iranian poetry, translated, created, directed and performed by Niloufar Talebi, with original score by Bobak Salehi, and choreography and video by Alex Ketley, featuring Chloe Felesina as Icarus. The 10 artists on stage tell a story, woven of poems featured in BELONGING, connecting the myth of Icarus with the migration of Iranians, and the solitary journey of the artist/immigrant in the quest for freedom. ICARUS/RISE begins after the fall and is the journey to self-possession, featuring the emerging voices of Iranian poetry, including Ziba Karbassi, Granaz Moussavi, Maryam Huleh, Abbas Saffari, Jamshid Moshkani and Shahrouz Rashid, the poet of “Icarus”, as well as the poetry of Mina Assadi, and Yadollah Royaii.

ICARUS/RISE draws on the Iranian tradition of “Naghali” (dramatic story-telling) to present new Iranian literature in original Persian, as well as in translation, to broader audiences. This allows not only new literature to act as the inspiring source for theater, but also puts forth a new theatrical tradition into the American artistic landscape. Naghali is an age old art form practiced in Iran (in the streets, cafe’s, private gatherings, public rituals, and on the “art music” stage, whose components are music, classical poetry, and narration). Click here for more info about traditional story-telling in Asia and the Middle East.
By giving this theater new content (contemporary, rather than classical Iranian poetry), and fusing it with Western dramatic influences, this project pushes the limits of its traditions, giving voice to a synthesis of cultures in the hybrid-Iranian, reflecting their experience in contemporary society. It imports artistic traditions into the immigrants’ new host cultures, rather than perpetuate the linguistic and artistic divide between them.In the same way Ezra Pound’s translations of Chinese poetry revolutionized American poetics in the early to middle part of the 20th century, we hope to introduces new and vital literary content into English via translation, as well as through a new, hybrid art form.

3. Residencies/Workshops by ICARUS/RISE artists

Workshops offered by composer, Bobak Salehi:
-Middle-Eastern music and its fusion with other musical traditions, including western, flamenco, etc.
-Variety of musical instruments, including Târ, Daf, Tonbak, Violin, Guitar and others.
Workshops offered by choreographer and video artist, Alex Ketley of the Foundry Project:
-Contemporary Ballet
-Choreography
-Collaborative integration of dance within theater
Workshops offered by editor, translator, filmmaker, director, and performer, Niloufar Talebi:
-Multimedia expression
-Literary translation and advocacy
-Contemporary poetry outside Iran

4. Performances, custom-designed for each venue.

Contact us for information and bookings