VASHT
Over the centuries, not only coveted goods but ideas and knowledge too travelled across the so-called Silk Road. Frequently reduced to a linear route between ‘East’ and ‘West’ by imperialist or orientalist narratives, this important connection is, in fact, an extensive, multidirectional network.
In her new group piece, VASHT, Ulduz Ahmadzadeh draws on intersections along the Silk Road to map the spread of ancient dance knowledge and its complex genealogies. In a choreographic reinterpretation of this movement material and against the background of current neocolonial trade infrastructures such as the Belt and Road Initiative, VASHT navigates between remembrance and resistance. This way, an energetic homage to the resilience of cultural knowledge emerges.
Artist Talk following the performance on Sat 29.03. Dance researcher Beatriz Herrera Corado in conversation with Ulduz Ahmadzadeh. In English.
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is a choreographer, dancer, researcher and artistic co-director of the ATASH عطش contemporary dance company she founded. Her artistic work breaks with Western aesthetics, develops its own contemporary dance language influenced by South and West Asian traditions, and addresses socio-political issues as well as cultural hierarchies. Together with artistic co-director and scenographer Till Krappmann, Ahmadzadeh operates at the intersection of dance, performance, video, installation, documentation and activism. Her trilogy (Under Cover, Force Majeure, TARAB) was produced in cooperation with Tanzquartier Wien and has been touring internationally.
Credits
Artistic co-direction, choreography Ulduz Ahmadzadeh Artistic co-direction, scenography Till Jasper Krappmann Performance, co-creation Desi Bonato, Naline Ferraz, Andrei Nistor, Adela Maharani, Abdennacer Leblalta Composition, sound design Pouya Ehsaei Light design Benjamin Maier Artistic assistance Deborah Manavi Collaboration costume design Rebecca Kopp Production management partner in crime, Julia Neuwirth Co-produced by ATASH عطش contemporary dance company, Tanzquartier Wien and Kaaitheater, Brussels Supported by the Municipal Department of Cultural Affairs, Vienna, and the Austrian Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, the Civil Service and Sports Residency Tanzhaus Zürich
Visitor note: The performance includes strobe lights. More