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HIDDEN YEARNING: A Story of the Healing Power of Art and Forgiveness
ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA
Saturday, November 7, 2:30 pm and 7:00 pm
Sunday, November 8, 2:30 pm and 7:00 pm
Baumgaertner Auditorium,
Brady Education Center
University of St. Thomas
2115 Summit Avenue
St. Paul, Minnesota 55105
Ticket Information: Tickets $18 each. $10 each for groups of five or more.
Tickets available through www.brownpapertickets.com or 1-800-838-3006.
All performances are captioned and with ASL, AD, and Captioning
Artistic Director and Producer:
Leili Tajadod Pritschet
With the artistic collaboration of
Laurel Victoria Gray and her
Silk Road Dance Company of Washington, D.C.
Hidden Yearning is a multi-media dramatization of Leili Tajadod Pritschet’s personal experience as a dancer in pre-revolutionary Iran, her arrest and torture by the Ayatollah’s regime, and her subsequent escape to the United States. Leili’s story is told through Persian classical dance, video footage, live music, the Islamic call to prayer and the poetry of Rumi.
Hidden Yearning is an uplifting story of resilience and forgiveness, a celebration of the healing power of art. Leili Tajadod Pritschet’s physical and emotional recovery from disabling damage inflicted by the Ayatollah Khomeini’s police reminds us that forgiving others allows us to live our lives fully, regardless of what others have done to us.
Presented through Islamic eyes and imagery, Hidden Yearning is a tale of rebirth, not only for Leili personally, but for the entire art form of Persian classical dance. Over 4,000 years old, Persian dance -- celebrating spirituality and life -- flourished along the ancient Silk Road as cities developed and a refined court culture emerged. This elegant, expressive art was deemed decadent by the Khomeini regime that systematically worked to destroy the dance by imprisoning, and often killing, those who performed it. Leili, as the principal dancer with the Iranian National Dance Company and a very public advocate for dance, was targeted by the regime in 1979. Leili is now one of the few true classically trained Persian dancers still alive. In Hidden Yearning, her choreographies will be performed by Minnesota dancers who have trained extensively with her.
Joining Minnesota dancers onstage will be members the award-winning Silk Road Dance Company of Washington, D.C., an ensemble that specializes in women’s dance of the Islamic world. Founded in 1995 by Dr. Laurel Victoria Gray -- whose choreographies will also be included in the production -- Silk Road Dance Company (SRDC) is dedicated to “cultural understanding through beauty and delight.” The ensemble performs throughout the United States and in 2005, was the first American dance company to participate in the UNESCO sponsored Sharq Taronalari International Festival in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. SRDC was recently featured on BBC Persian TV.
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