Iranian Choreographer Creates Hidden Yearning,
An Evening of Persian Dance, Music, and Sufi poetry


Hidden Yearning event information:

Where: Intermedia Arts, 2822 Lyndale Avenue South, Minneapolis
(parking lot and on-street parking available)

When: Fri.-Sat., Dec. 7 & 8, 8:00 pm performance, followed by Q&A and
reception.

Who: Leili Pritschet and collaborating dancers and musicians

Tickets: $15.00, student/senior $12.00; reserved at 612-871-4444.

Websites: www.intermediaarts.org or www.vsaartsmn.org

Access: Captioned both nights; Audio described for patrons with vision
loss on Sat. Dec. 7 by Laura Wiebers


Leili Tajadod Pritschet, a Minneapolis dancer/choreographer who was
born in Iran, will present her story, Hidden Yearning, on the
Intermedia Arts stage as a cross-cultural tapestry of Persian
classical dance, multi-cultural music, video and Sufi poetry. The show
combines the energies of many artists—Middle Eastern and American,
Muslim, Christian and Jewish—to probe issues of immigration,
assimilation and faith.

Hidden Yearning is inspired by the 13th century-Persian poet Rumi,
whose passion is rooted in Sufism, "the alchemy of the heart," the
mystical aspect of Islam. The exquisite beauty of the dance, poetry
and music reveals a different face of the Islamic world than the
austere Islamic fundamentalism held in the minds of most Americans.

Pritschet says, "This artistic expression has grown out of my own
life, my heritage as a native of Iran (Persia), and as a woman in the
Islamic culture. I was deeply immersed in my country's culture of
dance — researching, studying, performing, choreographing, teaching,
and producing with some of the world's finest artists."

That all changed in the Iranian Revolution of 1979. Islamic
fundamentalists forbade performing arts and rigidly restricted the
rights of women. Because of her visibility as a woman with a voice in
the arts and in the media, Ms. Pritschet was imprisoned, tortured and
disabled. The power of her feminine strengths and vulnerabilities
were essential to her survival. She escaped Iran to seek political
asylum and safety here in the U.S. 9/11 motivated her to create a
production based on fear of the unknown and her belief that fear and
intolerance cannot be eliminated, but they can be transformed.

Directed by Amber Lee Olivier, the cast include dancers Canae Weiss,
Catherine Liska, Hoa Elm, Jennifer Amaya, Ken Yoder, Lisa Bah, Louise
Indritz, Patty Lefaive, Stefania Strowder, Steve Elm, Saed Kakish,
Summer Kendall, Susan McKenna, and Ted Ulrich; musicians David Harris,
and Aida Shahghasemi; set is by Hend Al-Mansour.

Hidden Yearning is funded in part by a Cultural Community Partnership
grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, and is a collaboration with
VSA arts of Minnesota. English captioning will be provided for the
Farsi, English and American Sign Language used; Saturday's show will
be audio described for patrons with vision loss.
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For more information, contact Leili Tajadod Pritschet, 612-789-1003.
leilipritschet@....