A solo rendition of the ground-breaking performance ‹Shiraz› for six dancers, Armin Hokmi explores the dynamics of emotional transfer from dancer to the individual spectator. Can dance convey emotions, perhaps of memory, loss or belonging without showing it, explaining or justifying it?

Starting with fragments of domestic dances Armin Hokmi has developed a vast landscape where dancing bodies float, merge, disintegrate and come together into complex compositional formations. ‹Shiraz› is a vibrant dance that brings the audience on a journey between their personal memories, the intimacy of the home, public life and a dance that’s there holding space for a moment’s rest.

Choreography and Dance: Armin Hokmi
Music: EHSXN, Reza R
Costume: Moriah Askenaizer
In conversation with Emmi Venna

This program was produced with the support of “2024 ARKO International Arts Network”

Armin Hokmi is an Iranian choreographer active in Berlin. After studying acting in Norway he finished his education with a master’s in choreography in Berlin. His first large-scale production ‹Shiraz› premiered in the spring 2024 and has since gained a lot of positive responses not least because of how the dance without illustrating or showing captures urgent political realities superimposed with a poetics that open doors to inner worlds and delicate sensual landscapes.