What a great experience it was to visit Teheran. It was hard work but also rewarding to bring physical theater to Iran. We arrived late on a thursday and the day after we spent setting up our stage, sound and lights. We had a wonderful guide and translater that was with us the entire time, ordering food for us when were hungry, fixing a taxi ride and taking us to see a few sights in Teheran.
In the weekend we showed 2 times each day, at 17 hours and at 20 hours.
On Monday we then got a chance to get even closer to the Iranian people when we held a workshop for about 30 people. Artists, directors, dancers and actors attended. It was a movement workshop where we taught two methods of approach when creating movement choreography. We only had three hours to spear but we managed to do a lot, sometimes splitting the groups into three parts, and then showing each other a collage of things that we put together.
We got a lot of questions at the end of the workshop and one person was so glad that we had come with the workshop, that she said that we were like angels. Such appreciative people and positive atmosphere.
Thank you Iran for a great time, I hope we get a chance to come back.
Do you know that name? It is a name of a city in Eastern Europe and it is the city where we will have our premiere of Virus, at the Grodno regional Drama Theater. This city belongs to the Republic of Belarus. I have never been there before and am very much looking forward to experiencing it. I have been to some of the nearby countries before with performances of Jo Strømgren Company. When we were in Russia we flew all the way to Siberia to an incredible theater festival in Norilsk, the northern most city in the world with over 100.000 inhabitants. It is actually a politically closed city to the outside world and we had to get a special artist-entree to visit the city while we performed there. It is also one of the most polluting areas in the world due to many different mines and factories producing nickel.
Ivar Sverrisson 