Sorour Darabi

Savušun (“grieving for the death of Siyâvash”) is the name of a pre-Islamic ceremony that com- memorates the mourning for this historical, or legendary, Persian prince. Intensely present on stage, Sorour Darabi lives out the contradictory emotions expressed in it — suffering, sorrow, fear, violence, but also joy, craziness, delight, release and ecstasy — thus displaying a body which is marked by its ambivalence. Inspired from Shiite mourning ceremonies, which take place during the month of Muharram, on stage, this ritual becomes a pagan form, in which the relationships of domination are inverted, and the values associated with the expression of feelings are redefined. As an ode to vulnerability and deep feelings, this performance revives the memory of old, collective emotions and brings to mind those men who, through their tears and their rebellion, presented a different vision of their own virility.

Born in 1990 in Shiraz (Iran), Sorour Darabi is a self-taught artist, who lives and works in Paris. Extremely active in Iran, s.he is part of the underground association ICCD, whose festival Untimely (Tehran) hosted his.er work before s.he left for France. During his.er training at the CCN in Montpellier s.he created the solo Subject to Change, then, in 2016, Farci.e, a performance based onlanguage, gender identity and sexuality. S.he also dances for Jule Flierl, Pauline Brun and Ligia Lewis.