MORTEZA ZAREI

Part of the long-term "Show" series.

Dance No. 02 is one of the performances in the long-term "Dances project" where I delve into choreography with non-human bodies. I believe all artworks function as intricate systems, composed of several simple or complex subsystems. Each of these subsystems has unique languages and vocabularies that, in interaction, generate new linguistic expressions, forming systems through the fusion of languages and vocabularies. In this choreographic performance, I construct a system based on improvisation, involving elements like an air compressor and a flexible hose. The system I design carefully selects an appropriate platform (spacetime) for presenting the piece. Moreover, it integrates two ready-made systems that act as performers with their own linguistic instructions (the choreography of the hose's accordion-like movements during the compressor's inflation and deflation process) to engage in real-time improvisation on the stage. This performance took place in 2023 in the central studio of Tehran, performed for a limited number of spectators.

In summer 2019 I performed Absepari. I had a vision of myself in a very hot summer wearing winter clothes, holding an ice block in my arms and connected to one of the columns of the Theatre Shahr with a harness and rope. I had personal motivations that made everything about the performance clear to me, but I didn't want to convey my motivations conceptually to others. I only thought that my performance in an urban environment would act as a dam that would probably break the common spatial connection and cause disturbance. This spatial connection is such that no element can pass without interacting with the show (whether forced or voluntary).

Now this connection can be a simple look, standing, talking, trying to participate, or anything else. The only point was to disrupt the architecture and space in a way that is impassable, just like a dam! The form I was creating in relation to the environment was not negligible. The year I performed Absepari was the year one of my friends committed suicide and I found a title for this performance; Absepari!

Absepari in Persian language is exactly according to the grammatical rule of the word 'Khaksepari' (a ceremony in which a person is buried in the ground). I was holding an ice block that was constantly melting and consigning something to the water. In this performance, the most important concept for me was contradiction. Contradiction between winter clothes in summer, contradiction between melting ice and holding it, and contradiction between life and death! This performance lasted for an hour and I did not perform it again.

Me and Amir, through our friendship and collaboration over the past few years, decided to collaborate on a piece of work. One day while discussing the production process, we realized that we each take different paths in the creation of our works. He starts with concepts and I begin by constructing new concepts from forms. In this joint project, we decided to reverse our approaches. We also decided that this collaborative work should interact with the architecture. We walked down the streets and observed the urban spaces, knowing that this performance would take place in an outdoor environment.

We went to Valiasr Street and our attention was drawn to the Theatre Shahr building. While we continued our observation, we noticed the small tags with abstract lines on the wall. We counted them and there were 56 tags. At that moment, we decided to have 56 performers. The performers would stand in front of the wall and place a red sticker under their feet, and move based on the unique pattern of lines on each tag.

Every year during the International Fadjr Theatre Festival, there are groups performing around the Theatre Shahr building. For this reason, it is not possible for police to determine which performance does not have a permit. Dancing is informal and illegal activity in Iran. That's why we didn't have a permit to perform in the city. The promised day arrived. Each performer had a round red sticker, which they stuck on the ground in front of the labels on the wall, put on headphones, and started the show. It started instantly and ended after about 30 minutes for security reasons. After that, ordinary people who were watching the performance stood on the performer's stickers and tried to move their bodies based on the movement pattern of the performers.

Opera's choreography is based on language — a sign language that emerges through movements, particularly hand movements. Since the brain's cognitive structure is based on language, choreography also takes shape based on language. Opera has a linguistic identity that is linked to the body and conveyed through the body.

The important point in language use is the issue of grammatical structure. I believe we always face two types of grammatical structures: 'prescriptive grammar' and 'personal grammar.' Prescriptive grammar is anything that has been created and taught up to that point, while personal grammar is an interpretation or translation that each individual comes up with when faced with prescriptive grammar — something unique that each person has for themselves. In opera, we are faced with two levels of grammatical structure: the 'sign language' and 'performance' grammatical structures. Sign language grammar is in the realm of performer knowledge that is imposed on me, while performance grammar is in the realm of my knowledge that is imposed on the performers. The confrontation of these two levels of grammatical structure ultimately leads to the formation of a personal grammar.

The spectator is a part of the performance that is often overlooked, but in opera, it takes shape from the moment the spectator enters the performance space. The sounds produced by the spectators — including the sound of their footsteps or speaking into the microphones placed in front of them — are involved in the production of the show's music. On the other hand, there is a second group of spectators who are in a separate location, observing the performers and the first group of spectators, who are situated three meters above the ground.

The performers narrate their own memories, nightmares, and dreams on stage. One of the performers, who is a bit hard of hearing but able to speak, translates the statements of other performers as he desired. At the end of the performance, one of the performers reads a short story by Robert Musil and the other performers repeat it after him. Meanwhile, the translator-performer translates everything he receives in a text that has been completely transformed compared to the original text.

Opera No. 01 #Tehran is a part of a project called 'Operas Project,' in which the goal is to produce and perform operas in different cities around the world with local hearing impaired performers.

'Slaughter of the Day' is based on historical accounts and ancient texts, particularly Foucault's views in books such as 'Discipline and Punish, Birth of the Prison,' and 'Madness and Civilization.' In this play, a group of insane people try to choose one person as their savior and accept him in that role after being stranded at sea. The entire text resembles a delirium in which history is narrated from the perspective of the delusions.

This theatre was only shown once, during the Fadjr Festival, and was never allowed to be performed again due to the sensitivity of the subject matter and censorship. The stage design was such that initially, the spectator could freely observe the introductory scenes and then were led towards the walls on either side of the stage; to see the play, they had to move their heads through a slit in the wall.

In 'Slaughter of the Day' the subject matter is history, and the assault of those in power on the human mind is the focus. It shows how history reveals any time that power desires. The effects of human domination over superstition and delusions are portrayed, and on the other hand, violence to the highest degree was the product of mental stagnation that spilled over history and onto the stage.