House of Strength
• Interdisciplinary Street Performance, 2014
Performed at Dumbo Arts Festival 2014 in Brooklyn, NY as part of the Beauty performance art series curated by SAWCC.
• House of Strength II is a performance inspired by the traditional Persian gymnasiums called Zoorkhaneh (House of Strength) where male participants practice physical training, as well as virtues of humbleness, forgiveness, brotherhood, and generosity. Women have traditionally been strictly forbidden from entering these gyms where male semi-nude performances are led by a singer who chants sacred poetry and plays drums and bells. Women are occasionally allowed to enter the arena and sit as audience. In this inclusive performance, male and female artists from different ethnic backgrounds working in a variety of disciplines will reinvent House of Strength by performing a contemporary rendition of these traditional rituals. The performance entails choreographed body movements with props and music.
• Artists:
Dancers: Jessica Israel, Catherine Murcek, Scott Sublett-Olsen, Abby Price, Princeton Spicer
Choreographer: Autumn Kioti
Sound Artist: Negar Behbahani
Production Manager: Amirmohsen Shahheidari
Conceived and directed by Nooshin Rostami
Photographer: Adham Riazi
