Our story
What you are about to experience is a group of generous souls in a ritual of listening. Listening beyond our ears, to our moving bodies and sounding breaths. We are inspired by the wisdom of the past that lives in the present. The stories that are living in us, the stories that we carry with us, with love and responsibility.
We dedicate this experience to you, to ourselves and to all the longing souls out there.
Inspired by the first poem of the book of Masnavi by universally acclaimed Sufi Mowlana Jallalidin Balkhi’s (Rumi), نی نامه, Song of the Reed is a ritual work that creates a space and time that is devised to allow us to actively listen.
Now listen to this reed-flute's deep lament
About the heartache being apart has meant:
Since from the reed-bed they uprooted me
My song's expressed each human's agony,
A breast which separation's split in two
Is what I seek, to share this pain with you:
When kept from their true origin, all yearn
For union on the day they can return.
Rumi / Rhymed Translation by Mojaddedi
Choreography
Sashar Zarif
Creative Facilitator
Katherine Duncanson
Performers
Mairéad Filgate, Kathia Wittenborn, Ethan Kim, and Sully Malaeb Proulx
Musicians
Naz Tawakoli (Afghan Dutar and vocal) and Günay Akca (Turkish Reed/Ney)
Musical Compositions and Arrangements
Sashar ZarifDutar solos/Naz Tawakoli
Ney/Reed adaptations and improvisations: Gunay Akca
Folk songs/ Allah Mazar (Khorasan) , Mulla Mamad Jon (Balkh), Shirin Dokhtar (Herat)
Costume Design
Sashar Zarif
Lighting Designer
Gabriel Cropley
This new work, Song of the Reed, is mainly inspired by and drawn from, music and dance from Rumi’s birth place, the ancient city of Balkh and the rich cultural tapestry of Afghanistan.
Song of the Reed is presented in the contemporary dance style of Mugham which is an integrated practice Zarif has developed. This practice blends dance, music, and storytelling, inspired and informed by the Sufi and Shamanic rituals of Islamic societies. In Dance of Mugham words communicate the intellectual, music transmits the emotional, and dance conveys the physical experience.
What you are about to experience is a group of generous souls in a ritual of listening. Listening beyond our ears, to our moving bodies and sounding breaths. We are inspired by the wisdom of the past that lives in the present. The stories that are living in us, the stories that we carry with us, with love and responsibility.
We dedicate this experience to you, to ourselves and to all the longing souls out there.
Inspired by the first poem of the book of Masnavi by universally acclaimed Sufi Mowlana Jallalidin Balkhi’s (Rumi), نی نامه, Song of the Reed is a ritual work that creates a space and time that is devised to allow us to actively listen.
Now listen to this reed-flute's deep lament
About the heartache being apart has meant:
Since from the reed-bed they uprooted me
My song's expressed each human's agony,
A breast which separation's split in two
Is what I seek, to share this pain with you:
When kept from their true origin, all yearn
For union on the day they can return.
Rumi / Rhymed Translation by Mojaddedi
Choreography
Sashar Zarif
Creative Facilitator
Katherine Duncanson
Performers
Mairéad Filgate, Kathia Wittenborn, Ethan Kim, and Sully Malaeb Proulx
Musicians
Naz Tawakoli (Afghan Dutar and vocal) and Günay Akca (Turkish Reed/Ney)
Musical Compositions and Arrangements
Sashar ZarifDutar solos/Naz Tawakoli
Ney/Reed adaptations and improvisations: Gunay Akca
Folk songs/ Allah Mazar (Khorasan) , Mulla Mamad Jon (Balkh), Shirin Dokhtar (Herat)
Costume Design
Sashar Zarif
Lighting Designer
Gabriel Cropley
This new work, Song of the Reed, is mainly inspired by and drawn from, music and dance from Rumi’s birth place, the ancient city of Balkh and the rich cultural tapestry of Afghanistan.
Song of the Reed is presented in the contemporary dance style of Mugham which is an integrated practice Zarif has developed. This practice blends dance, music, and storytelling, inspired and informed by the Sufi and Shamanic rituals of Islamic societies. In Dance of Mugham words communicate the intellectual, music transmits the emotional, and dance conveys the physical experience.
نی نامه, Song of the Reed / from Balkh with love - World Premier
A new dance work by Sashar Zarif
Inspired by the first poem of the book of Masnavi by universally acclaimed Sufi Mowlana Jallalidin Balkhi’s (Rumi), Song of the Reed is a new dance work by Sashar Zarif, presented by Aga Khan Museum.
نی نامه, Song of the Reed is a ritual work that creates a space and time, devised to allow us to actively listen. This atmosphere is facilitated by a cast of six cross generational and multi-disciplinary artists, whose breaths and bodies collaboratively create hypnotizing river of dance and music.
Many people believe that the complete wisdom of Rumi, shared with the world through over 65,000 verses of mystical poetry in Farsi, is summarized in the first word of this opening poem, “Beshno/Listen”.
In this poem Mowlana (Rumi) compares the soul to a reed flute: hollow and empty of ego. And the fire-full sound of the reed as a cry of longing for the reed-bed it has been cut from.
This new work, Song of the Reed, is inspired by and draws from, music and dance from Rumi’s birth place, the ancient city of Balkh and the rich cultural tapestry of Afghanistan.
Zarif is joined by guest artist Nasrullah Tavakoli (Afghan Dutar and Vocal), Gunay Akca (Turkish Reed/Ney) and Sashar Zarif Dance Theatre’s Mairéad Filgate, Kathia Wittenborn, Ethan Kim, Sully Malaeb Proulx, creative facilitator Katherine Duncanson and lighting designer Gabriel Cropley.
Song of the Reed is presented in the contemporary style of Mugham which is an integrated practice Zarif has developed, that blends dance, music, and storytelling and which is inspired and informed by the Sufi and Shamanic rituals of Islamic societies. In it, words communicate the intellectual, music transmits the emotional, and dance conveys the physical.
Sashar Zarif has thirty years of ethnographic and cross-cultural creative field work in over forty countries across the globe. His years of investment in research have resulted in a unique approach to choreography and its creative process called “Moving Memories/Living Stories”.
This work was generously supported by Canada Council for the Arts.
A new dance work by Sashar Zarif
Inspired by the first poem of the book of Masnavi by universally acclaimed Sufi Mowlana Jallalidin Balkhi’s (Rumi), Song of the Reed is a new dance work by Sashar Zarif, presented by Aga Khan Museum.
نی نامه, Song of the Reed is a ritual work that creates a space and time, devised to allow us to actively listen. This atmosphere is facilitated by a cast of six cross generational and multi-disciplinary artists, whose breaths and bodies collaboratively create hypnotizing river of dance and music.
Many people believe that the complete wisdom of Rumi, shared with the world through over 65,000 verses of mystical poetry in Farsi, is summarized in the first word of this opening poem, “Beshno/Listen”.
In this poem Mowlana (Rumi) compares the soul to a reed flute: hollow and empty of ego. And the fire-full sound of the reed as a cry of longing for the reed-bed it has been cut from.
This new work, Song of the Reed, is inspired by and draws from, music and dance from Rumi’s birth place, the ancient city of Balkh and the rich cultural tapestry of Afghanistan.
Zarif is joined by guest artist Nasrullah Tavakoli (Afghan Dutar and Vocal), Gunay Akca (Turkish Reed/Ney) and Sashar Zarif Dance Theatre’s Mairéad Filgate, Kathia Wittenborn, Ethan Kim, Sully Malaeb Proulx, creative facilitator Katherine Duncanson and lighting designer Gabriel Cropley.
Song of the Reed is presented in the contemporary style of Mugham which is an integrated practice Zarif has developed, that blends dance, music, and storytelling and which is inspired and informed by the Sufi and Shamanic rituals of Islamic societies. In it, words communicate the intellectual, music transmits the emotional, and dance conveys the physical.
Sashar Zarif has thirty years of ethnographic and cross-cultural creative field work in over forty countries across the globe. His years of investment in research have resulted in a unique approach to choreography and its creative process called “Moving Memories/Living Stories”.
This work was generously supported by Canada Council for the Arts.
Artists Bio
Sashar Zarif is an internationally renowned performing artist, educator, and researcher. For the last three decades Zarif has toured across forty countries; and has spent his professional life promoting cultural dialogue through intensive fieldwork, residencies, performances, and creative collaborations. His award-winning, multi-disciplinary dance projects are steeped in the artistry and history of traditional, ritualistic, and contemporary dance and music of the Central Asian, Middle Eastern, and North African regions. Zarif is committed to developing his own practice, grounded in a deep, mystical connection to dance. His creative approach Living Stories / Moving Memories explores the physical, mental and emotional aspects of memory.
During his childhood, Günay Akca had the wonderful opportunity to listen and take in some of the best Neyzens / Ney players. His childlike wonder for and fascination towards the Ney led him to pick up the instrument, as he says, "that time the sound of Ney, the live performance lifted me up and I felt it through my soul. Ever since I wanted to learn the instrument, and it became my passion.” Despite being a professional in the field of Information Technology, Akca has been devoted to his passion for music for over two decades, with the Ney being his primary instrument, but he is also trained on the clarinet. Günay Akca has been a member of EZGI Turkish Folk Music Ensemble for the last 16 years, and has also been playing with Vina Music.
Katherine Duncanson has been involved in the performance of music, dance and theatre for several decades and has had the pleasure of creating with, or being an interpreter in, the works of many of Canada's most renowned performing artists and ensembles. Katherine continues to be deeply involved in the artistic world as a creative facilitator, director, dramaturge, voice coach and yoga teacher. She has had a deeply rewarding creative association with Sashar Zarif Dance Theatre since 2004.
Ethan Kim is a Toronto based artist, born and raised in Mississauga, Ontario. He is a graduate of Ryerson’s Performance: Dance program, and has since danced in various performances and films, in and outside of Toronto. In addition to dance, Ethan is an experienced singer, musician, composer, and filmmaker, and has performed in many musical theatre productions. His interest in multiple forms has led to a choreographic practice that merges artistic worlds. Ethan wishes to create engaging works that provide intrigue and entertainment for people of all backgrounds.
Mairéad Filgate (Montreal/Toronto) has performed and created nationally and internationally with a vast array of incredible artists, most recently: Sashar Zarif, tiger princess dance projects, Chartier Danse, Sonia Gemmiti, Marie-Claire Forté, Katie Ward, and Erin Flynn. Mairéad is a founding member of the award-winning collaborative trio Throwdown Collective, with whom she creates for theatres, parks, forests, and film. As a member of the Danny Grossman Dance Company (2003-2008), Mairéad had the great privilege to perform many of Grossman’s signature works and is currently collecting an oral history of the company’s storied three decades.
Originally from Montreal, Kathia Wittenborn is a Toronto based dance artist and certified Barre, Pilates and Yoga movement teacher. She is a graduate from Ballet Divertimento and The School of Toronto Dance Theatre where she was the recipient of the Kathryn Ash Scholarship Award. Kathia has trained, created and performed throughout North America and Europe; collaborating with many critically acclaimed artists and companies including Amanda Acorn, Susie Burpee, Sylvain Émard, Aria Evans, Marie Lambin Gagnon, Shannon Litzenberger, Jane Alison McKinney, Sharon B. Moore, JD Dance and Tribal Crackling Wind (Peter Chin). Her work in Chin’s Woven received a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Performance (ensemble).
Sully Malaeb Proulx is a freelance dance artist currently based in Toronto, Canada. After training at the Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre in Toronto, he received a BFA in dance from The State University of New York at Purchase College, graduating summa cum laude in 2020. Since leaving for New York and coming back to Toronto, he has danced and performed works by artists from near and far, the likes of Ohad Naharin, Trisha Brown, Frog in Hand, MADBOOTS DANCE, and Crystal Pite, among other artists and independent creators. He’s also received additional training at the London Contemporary Dance School and at Springboard Danse Montréal. Today, as well as performing on a freelance basis, Sully is working in community engagement in the arts, teaching at community centers, and working with different non-profit organizations in and around Toronto, in an attempt to make dance an accessible practice.
Nasrullah Tawakoli is a folkloric musician originally from Bamyan, Afghanistan, home of the folkloric Khorasani music. He is skilled on the Dambora (Afghan Dutar), Afghan Robab, Afghan Tanboor, Iranian Setar, harmonium, and guitar. From 2006 to 2010, Tawakoli played the Dambora as a member of Bamyan Eco-tourism, participating in several festivals such as Rah-e-abrisham and Nawruz festivals. From 2013 to 2014, he spent time in Kabul at the Agha Khan Music Institute studying Afghan classical music. While there, he learned to play harmonium, solphage, and rythme. Then from 2014 to 2015, he played Dambora in a musical shadow puppet theatre called Shirin Shadow Theatre. Between 2016 and 2017, Tawakoli worked and performed with Shahrzad Dastoornezhad in a festival called Tirgan Festival. In this festival, he was a harmonium player.
Sashar Zarif is an internationally renowned performing artist, educator, and researcher. For the last three decades Zarif has toured across forty countries; and has spent his professional life promoting cultural dialogue through intensive fieldwork, residencies, performances, and creative collaborations. His award-winning, multi-disciplinary dance projects are steeped in the artistry and history of traditional, ritualistic, and contemporary dance and music of the Central Asian, Middle Eastern, and North African regions. Zarif is committed to developing his own practice, grounded in a deep, mystical connection to dance. His creative approach Living Stories / Moving Memories explores the physical, mental and emotional aspects of memory.
During his childhood, Günay Akca had the wonderful opportunity to listen and take in some of the best Neyzens / Ney players. His childlike wonder for and fascination towards the Ney led him to pick up the instrument, as he says, "that time the sound of Ney, the live performance lifted me up and I felt it through my soul. Ever since I wanted to learn the instrument, and it became my passion.” Despite being a professional in the field of Information Technology, Akca has been devoted to his passion for music for over two decades, with the Ney being his primary instrument, but he is also trained on the clarinet. Günay Akca has been a member of EZGI Turkish Folk Music Ensemble for the last 16 years, and has also been playing with Vina Music.
Katherine Duncanson has been involved in the performance of music, dance and theatre for several decades and has had the pleasure of creating with, or being an interpreter in, the works of many of Canada's most renowned performing artists and ensembles. Katherine continues to be deeply involved in the artistic world as a creative facilitator, director, dramaturge, voice coach and yoga teacher. She has had a deeply rewarding creative association with Sashar Zarif Dance Theatre since 2004.
Ethan Kim is a Toronto based artist, born and raised in Mississauga, Ontario. He is a graduate of Ryerson’s Performance: Dance program, and has since danced in various performances and films, in and outside of Toronto. In addition to dance, Ethan is an experienced singer, musician, composer, and filmmaker, and has performed in many musical theatre productions. His interest in multiple forms has led to a choreographic practice that merges artistic worlds. Ethan wishes to create engaging works that provide intrigue and entertainment for people of all backgrounds.
Mairéad Filgate (Montreal/Toronto) has performed and created nationally and internationally with a vast array of incredible artists, most recently: Sashar Zarif, tiger princess dance projects, Chartier Danse, Sonia Gemmiti, Marie-Claire Forté, Katie Ward, and Erin Flynn. Mairéad is a founding member of the award-winning collaborative trio Throwdown Collective, with whom she creates for theatres, parks, forests, and film. As a member of the Danny Grossman Dance Company (2003-2008), Mairéad had the great privilege to perform many of Grossman’s signature works and is currently collecting an oral history of the company’s storied three decades.
Originally from Montreal, Kathia Wittenborn is a Toronto based dance artist and certified Barre, Pilates and Yoga movement teacher. She is a graduate from Ballet Divertimento and The School of Toronto Dance Theatre where she was the recipient of the Kathryn Ash Scholarship Award. Kathia has trained, created and performed throughout North America and Europe; collaborating with many critically acclaimed artists and companies including Amanda Acorn, Susie Burpee, Sylvain Émard, Aria Evans, Marie Lambin Gagnon, Shannon Litzenberger, Jane Alison McKinney, Sharon B. Moore, JD Dance and Tribal Crackling Wind (Peter Chin). Her work in Chin’s Woven received a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Performance (ensemble).
Sully Malaeb Proulx is a freelance dance artist currently based in Toronto, Canada. After training at the Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre in Toronto, he received a BFA in dance from The State University of New York at Purchase College, graduating summa cum laude in 2020. Since leaving for New York and coming back to Toronto, he has danced and performed works by artists from near and far, the likes of Ohad Naharin, Trisha Brown, Frog in Hand, MADBOOTS DANCE, and Crystal Pite, among other artists and independent creators. He’s also received additional training at the London Contemporary Dance School and at Springboard Danse Montréal. Today, as well as performing on a freelance basis, Sully is working in community engagement in the arts, teaching at community centers, and working with different non-profit organizations in and around Toronto, in an attempt to make dance an accessible practice.
Nasrullah Tawakoli is a folkloric musician originally from Bamyan, Afghanistan, home of the folkloric Khorasani music. He is skilled on the Dambora (Afghan Dutar), Afghan Robab, Afghan Tanboor, Iranian Setar, harmonium, and guitar. From 2006 to 2010, Tawakoli played the Dambora as a member of Bamyan Eco-tourism, participating in several festivals such as Rah-e-abrisham and Nawruz festivals. From 2013 to 2014, he spent time in Kabul at the Agha Khan Music Institute studying Afghan classical music. While there, he learned to play harmonium, solphage, and rythme. Then from 2014 to 2015, he played Dambora in a musical shadow puppet theatre called Shirin Shadow Theatre. Between 2016 and 2017, Tawakoli worked and performed with Shahrzad Dastoornezhad in a festival called Tirgan Festival. In this festival, he was a harmonium player.
