Concealing the visible

Iranian government officially claims it invests large amounts in arts and culture, but when it comes to factual subventions the money often remains to be wished for. International co-operation in dance sector has so far been non-existing. A notable exception is 'Letters from Tentland' - the first Iranian dance production ever with a foreign choreographer. This purely intense performance was created with support from the Dramatic Arts Centre in Tehran and the Goethe-Institut in 2004. It was directed by Helena Waldmann, a German choreographer whose speciality is concealing the visible. 'Letters from Tentland' showed six female performers dancing and moving inside specially designed tents on stage - a symbolic depiction of women's painfully imprisoned lives in today's Iran.(...)The performance premiered at International Fadjr-Festival in Tehran in 2005. "After the performance we invited the women from the audience for tea and chat behind the curtain," Waldmann continues. "It was very intense. Many women told us they couldn't believe the performance was not censored."(...)Since 2005 'Letters from Tentland' has toured seventeen countries and was performed forty-three times until it became censored in Iran in 2006. Helena Waldmann wasn't discouraged. On the contrary, she directed a new piece called 'Return to Sender - Letters from Tentland' with Iranian dancers in exile, which premiered in 2006 at Montpellier Dance Festival. The statements made in the first piece were now answered, stamped and returned to sender.(...)

O resto pode ser lido no site do espectáculo.

RETURN TO SENDER - LETTERS FROM TENTLAND, dias 21, 22 e 23 de Junho, às 21h30, na Sala Polivalente do CAM.