The Translation Project

Divine Life Force, Please Meet Truth and Existence

Niloufar — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:56:35 +0000

New York Times review of Ātash Sorushān (Fire Angels), performed at Carnegie Hall, March 29, 2011.

Kayhan Kalhor in SF | Norouz DVD

Niloufar — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:25:35 +0000

The Translation Project is proud to co-sponsor master Persian musician, and member of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble, Kayhan Kalhor for a Night of Rumi in San Francisco, presented by the California Institute of Integral Studies. Get your tix now

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We are also proud to announce The Persian Rite of Spring: story of Norouz DVD **gift/eydi** in its 2nd year available via Amazon (5-star reviews!) and Paypal (bulk orders)

داستان مراسم ایرانی نو شدن بهار و فرا رسیدن عید نوروز (از یلدا تا سیزده بدر) به صورت یک دی. وی. دی. جهت استفاده در گردهم آئی خانوادگی یا مراسم گروهی به صورت تک فروشی یا عمده فروشی موجود می باشد

Write us if you are interested in screening this video at your events

The Persian Rite of Spring DVD is released!

Niloufar — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 21:46:04 +0000

Dear Friends,

We are proud to announce the release of The Persian Rite of Spring DVD, a show that tells the story of Norouz/Norooz/Nowruz on Equinox: the celebrations of lengthening days, and the victory of light over dark, begin on Yalda (Winter Solstice), and continue through Jashneh Sadeh (January 30th), Chaharshanbeh Soori (late March), Norouz and finally 13-Bedar (Outdoor-13).

So we celebrate the countdown to Norouz this holiday season and throughout winter!

Norouz is a UNESCO ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity,’ and an official US Holiday. Learn about it, practice it, and GIFT ITS STORY to friends, family and colleagues all over the world, and at your Norouz parties. DVDs are now available for individual and bulk orders via Paypal below.

To bring the live Persian Rite of Spring theatrical show to your city, or arrange DVD screenings and signings, contact bita@bflybuzz.com.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Farhang Foundation

Niloufar — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 17:26:45 +0000

The Persian Rite of Spring was commissioned and co-sponsored by the Farhang Foundation.

The Persian Rite of Spring DVD now available

Niloufar — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 01:49:17 +0000

We are proud to announce the release of The Persian Rite of Spring DVD, a show that tells the story of Norouz/Norooz/Nowruz on Equinox. The celebrations of lengthening days and the coming of spring begin on Yalda (Winter Solstice), and continue through Jashneh Sadeh (January 30th), Chaharshanbeh Soori (March), Norouz and finally 13-Bedar two weeks into spring.

So the holiday season continues as we countdown to Norouz throughout winter!

Contact us to bring the live Persian Rite of Spring theatrical show to your city, or arrange DVD screenings and signings.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Persian Rite of Spring (the story of Norouz)

Niloufar — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 01:40:04 +0000

The Persian Rite of Spring, created by Niloufar Talebi in collaboration with composer and media artist Bobak Salehi, is a multimedia show about the mythology, poetry, music, folklore and celebrations of Norouz/Norooz/Nowruz, a millennia-old tradition celebrated by Iranians and others around the world. The birth of light and its victory over dark is an archetypical dynamic with a series of ceremonies from Yalda (Winter Solstice) through 13-Bedar (Outdoor 13) that usher in the renewal of the world each spring, which The Persian Rite of Spring brings to life. The Persian Rite of Spring world-premiered at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art of March 14, 2010 and was commissioned by the Farhang Foundation.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Persian Rite of Spring at LACMA

Niloufar — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 01:22:30 +0000

Nowruz Tribute - Shahnameh

The Translation Project is pleased to announce its newest show, The Persian Rite of Spring, commissioned by the Farhang Foundation, to world premiere at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) on March 14, 2010, at 12:30 PM.

The Persian Rite of Spring, created by The Translation Project’s Niloufar Talebi in collaboration with composer Bobak Salehi, is a multimedia show about the mythology, poetry, music, folklore and celebrations of Nowruz, a millennia-old tradition celebrated by Iranians and others around the world. The birth of light and its victory over dark is an archetypical dynamic with a series of ceremonies from Yalda (Winter Solstice) through 13-Bedar (Outdoor 13) that usher in the renewal of the world each spring, which The Persian Rite of Spring brings to life.

The performance will take place in the Leo S. Bing Theater at LACMA at 12:30 p.m. The event is FREE to the public. Due to limited seating (450), tickets are required and may be obtained free-of-charge on a first come, first served basis from LACMA’s box office, starting at 11 a.m. on Sunday, March 14th. LACMA is located at 5905 Wilshire Blvd • Los Angeles California 90036 • Phone: 323-857-6000.

The Persian Rite of Spring performance is part of Farhang Foundation’s second annual, all-day Nowruz celebration at LACMA on March 14, 2010 from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The performance will be followed by a special musical performance by the Hamed Nikpay Ensemble, which includes some of the most talented world musicians, performing Hamed Nikpay’s signature Persian melodies fused with a flamenco beat, at LACMA’s LA Times Central Courtyard.

Click here to read the official press release.

Translation Workshop

Niloufar — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 05:33:03 +0000

Niloufar Talebi teaches: Translation As an Act of Love (Beginning level translation workshop)

“If you have ever read multiple translations of works by Neruda, Rumi, Rilke, Dostoyevsky, Baudelaire … and wondered how their differences come about, and who makes those decisions, or ever wanted to be involved on a deeper level with the work of a writer not writing in English, then you might be a translator in the making. Translators are cultural and literary champions who bring readers new voices and perspectives.

In this workshop, through fun exercises, award-winning translator Niloufar Talebi shows what it takes to become a professional translator by going through the process by which a non-English text is ‘brought over’ into English, giving participants the fundamentals of rendering translations. No prior translation experience or knowledge of another language is necessary! Just a love of literature.

Talebi’s books include Belonging: New Poetry by Iranians Around the World. Drawing from Persian mythology and poetry, Talebi is currently writing a libretto for the tenth anniversary of 9/11 under commission by Carnegie Hall.”

Saturday October 31, 10 AM – 4 PM

BOOK PASSAGE, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera, CA – 415/927-0960

SIGN UP FOR WORKSHOP HERE

Translation Class Oct. 31

Niloufar — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 23:08:23 +0000

EVENTS

1. Translation As an Act of Love

(Beginning level translation workshop)

Saturday October 31, 10 AM – 4 PM

Talebi’s books include Belonging: New Poetry by Iranians Around the World. Drawing from Persian mythology and poetry, Talebi is currently writing a libretto for the tenth anniversary of 9/11 under commission by Carnegie Hall.”

SIGN UP FOR WORKSHOP HERE

**2. Reading from BELONGING + Iranian protest slogans in translation**

Friday October 30, 7 PM – FREE and open to the public

BOTH events at BOOK PASSAGE, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera, CA – 415/927-0960

NEWS

1. The concert DVD of ICARUS/RISE, a multimedia naghali theatrical piece, dramatizing new Iranian poetry is released! Buy your copy on Amazon.com

ICARUS/RISE

2. This year’s winner of the Bita Prize for Literature and Freedom is Ms. Goli Taraghi, one of contemporary Iran’s eminent writers and essayists.

Goli Taraghi

WE RECOMMEND

American Literary Translators Association annual conference, Pasadena, CA, Nov. 11-14

Persian Arts Festival (NYC)

Taghi Amirani a TED Fellow

ICARUS/RISE

Niloufar — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:55:21 +0000

Click here to view the embedded video.

The SF Examiner calls it “…the festival’s crown jewel…is ICARUS/RISE, which bridges the legend of the mythological figure with the migration of Iranians in search for freedom…”

ICARUS/RISE is a provocative and emotional multimedia theatrical performance of new Iranian poetry, translated, created and performed by Niloufar Talebi, with original score by Bobak Salehi, and choreography and video by Alex Ketley, featuring Chloe Felesina as Icarus. Woven of poems featured in BELONGING: New Poetry by Iranians Around the World (North Atlantic Books), and connecting the myth of Icarus with the solitary journey of the artist/immigrant in the quest for freedom, it tells the 30-year story of the migration of Iranians. 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.

Based on the poetry in BELONGING : New Poetry by Iranians Around the World, ICARUS/RISE is inspired by the Iranian spoken word tradition of ‘Naghali’, which is practiced in the streets, cafes, public rituals, or ‘art music’ stage. By giving this spoken word tradition new content (new poetry in BELONGING) — rather than its usual content of classical Persian poetry and myths — and fusing it with western theatrical elements, ICARUS/RISE gives voice to hybrid-Iranians, reflecting their experience in contemporary society.

This has never been done before, certainly not in translation, and not in the west. Many younger Iranian-Americans have never been exposed to and don’t have familiarity with their heritage tradition of Naghali and may not realize that global phenomenon like Hip Hop theater or poetry slams have cultural precedents in the Iranian traditions of ‘Mosha’ereh’ and ‘Naghali’. In the same way that Ezra Pound’s translations of Chinese poetry helped shape 20th C. American poetry, and Stanislovski’s writings on acting shaped the American “method”, our goal with projects such as ICARUS/RISE is to help introduce an Iranian theatrical/literary contribution to the American artistic landscape.

ICARUS/RISE is available for touring. Contact us for bookings.

The making of ICARUS/RISE

Order ICARUS/RISE DVD