Public Energy Performing Arts kicks off its 28th season with
an international program of multi-media dance.
Digital Dervish and Flamenco Sonic
A multi-media performance created by Hedy Hurban
September 9 at 7:30pm
September 10 at 1pm
Market Hall Performing Arts Centre, 140 Charlotte St, Pbooro, ON
Tickets are pick-a-price, starting as low as $5, available at the Market Hall box office here.
Featuring wildly imaginative projections and wearable body technology performed by a dervish dancer and a Flamenco dancer.
https://publicenergy.ca/performance/firoza-uk-digital-dervish-flamenco-sonic/
Not ready to come to the theatre?
The Sept 10 show is being simultaneously streamed live and will be available for one week following the performance.
But you won’t get the full effect of projections that immerse the dancers and their movements that influence the sound and lights vis wearable tech.
Combining original digital projections, live performance, and wearable technology, Digital Dervish and Flamenco Sonic features a whirling dervish and a flamenco dancer becoming intertwined as they relate a story of landscape, earth, love and life. It is created by Hedy Hurban, a U.K.-based electronic music composer, choreographer and costume designer who has developed her own unique wearable body technology for live performance. Collaborating with Hurban is her partner in life and work, filmmaker and production designer Kaz Rahman. Originally from Peterborough and now based in the U.K., Rahman -together with visual effects editor Barış Çelik – has created the dynamic projections that create a mesmerizing environment for the performance.
The story follows a dervish – performed by Mayez Rahman – who is in a dream and wakes up to birds and the sounds of nature: he begins to meditate and perform his sema, a dance and meditative ritual practiced for centuries by the Mevlevi Sufis in Turkey. He becomes enveloped in a storm of chaos as he whirls wildly and then collapses, where he becomes dormant again. A Flamenco dancer – performed by Carolina Loyola-Garcia – notices and begins to move in similar patterns, evoking her duende – a state reached through ecstatic movement that allows the body to express the soul – and attempting to awaken him. They exchange their sounds and movements until they become intertwined in a climactic whirling that encompasses music, imagery and physical movement.
The movements and gestures which are specific to these dance traditions are being highlighted and augmented with an original wearable device called the Soundrop. The dancers use the device as an extension of the body – a musical instrument that can provide layers to the separate pre-recorded music composition. The Soundrop has been developed by the creator of Digital Dervish and Flamenco Sonic, Hedy Hurban, a costume designer and composer of electronic/electroacoustic music who explores the interlacing of sonic and digital art with traditional folk performance practices.
Media contacts:
Eva Fisher, Marketing Director: eva@publicenergy.ca
Bill Kimball, Executive Director: bill@publicenergy.ca
Or call the Public Energy office: 705-745-1788.
More about the Soundrop
The Soundrop is a small wearable body instrument that is attached to the body via a strap on the wrist or ankle and tracks the speed of movement that a performer initiates. It emits sounds when it is moved; the greater the velocity of movement, the greater the volume of the sound being emitted from the device. It can be turned on or off by pressing a small sensor in the center of the device. LED lights also light up when the sound is emitted so that the wearer and the audience can understand that the action has been performed. It also gently vibrates on the skin providing a tactile cue. The devices are programmed with one sound each and are designed to add sound layers to a separate pre-recorded music composition. The dancer uses the device as an extension of the body.
More about sema and duende
The sema of the Dervish blurs the lines between dance and meditation while symbolically expressing the formation of the universe and man’s transference of love and respect to God. This ritual turning practice of the Mevlevi Sufi Order dates back to the 13th century to Muhammed Celaleddin better known as Mevlana. The duende is the expression of the soul for a Flamenco dancer- a flame that is provoked when in a state of ecstatic movement. Duende is not a tangible concept but one that is felt throughout the body and conveyed through passionate and striking movements.
Bios for the artistic team
Hedy Hurban is a designer of costumes and composer of electronic/electroacoustic music. She showcased her collections at DSYN O4 (Delhi, India) and has designed the costumes for the Operas Lampedusa (Plymouth, UK) and The Mother of Fishes (Pittsburgh, USA). Hedy is music composer for several short films such as Dead Body, Grand Theatre and Picture Palace, Bees Mecanique, the TV episode Green and Blue and the feature films Salaat and Deccani Souls. Her interest in interlacing sonic and digital art with traditional folk performance practices led her to create a prototype body instrument inspired by the Whirling Dervishes of Turkey called Dervish Sound Dress (2018) that combines music, wearable body technology and live performance. She has a ResM in Computer Music from the University of Plymouth and is currently associate lecturer in Digital Art and Technology.
Kaz Rahman has worked extensively as visual artist, filmmaker and academic with both commercial and public institutions, festivals and broadcasters over the last 20 years. His work has played in film festivals and venues such as Anthology Film Archives (New York City), National Film Board of Canada (Toronto), India Habitat Centre (New Delhi), Salar Jung Museum (Hyderabad), Andy Warhol Museum (Pittsburgh), The San Jose Museum of Art (California), Bogazici Film Festival (Istanbul), SUFICINE Festival (Konya) and broadcast on TV24 (Turkey) and has been featured in publications such as The Times of India, The Hindu, The New Indian Express (India), Daily Sabah and Star Gazette (Turkey). His style explores themes such as time, memory and narrative dreams as well as the convergence of fiction/documentary. Rahman has an MFA in Media Arts (writing/directing) from City College (CUNY), New York City and has taught at universities and colleges in Hyderabad, Pittsburgh, Istanbul, Plymouth and Canterbury (UK).
Bariş Çelik’s work in visual effects and as a colorist reflects his interest in graphic design and illustration. He has a BA in Cinema from Istanbul Sehir University and his work has been part of award-winning short films both within Turkey and internationally. He is one of the founding members of Istanbul International Experimental Film Festival and is currently lecturer in film editing/montage at Istanbul Medipol University. He is editor on Green and Blue and Rebeldes Baseball.
Carolina Loyola-Garcia is a multidisciplinary artist, filmmaker and performer. She works primarily in media arts, including video art and installation, video design for theater, documentary and digital photography. She produced and directed the documentary film Sobre las Olas: A story of Flamenco in the U.S. (2013), which offers a comprehensive view of the art of flamenco in the United States. She received her MFA from Carnegie Mellon University and is Professor of Media Arts at Robert Morris University. As a performer she has worked in theater productions, dance ensembles and as a flamenco artist. Loyola-Garcia has worked with Quantum Theatre in the productions of The Red Shoes (2007), Maria de Buenos Aires (2011), Ainadamar (2012), Mnemonic (2013), and Looking for Violeta (2019) as well as Attack Theater’s production of the Rube Goldberg Variations (2019). She is also lead dancer and singer with the ensemble Alba Flamenca and performs all through Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Ohio and Western NY.
Mayez Rahman is a student at Lipson Co-operative Academy in Plymouth. He has lived in both Pittsburgh, USA and Istanbul, Turkey where he first encountered the traditions of the Whirling Dervishes. His interests include designing video games and all aspects of computer programming.
Public Energy Performing Arts is a presenter and animator of dance, theatre, and interdisciplinary performance.
We are supported by funding from Canada Council for the Arts, Department Canadian of Heritage, Ontario Arts Council, Ontario Trillium Foundation, City of Peterborough and the Lloyd-Carr Harris Foundation.
Our season sponsors are Jo Pillon Royal LePage Realty, V Formation, HiHo Silver, Kawartha Now, We Design.
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