ARMIN HOKMI

Shiraz is a choreography for seven dancers, an intertwining of movements and energies that meet and transform on stage. An intense dance, made up of rhythms, memories, and imagination. The starting point is the Shiraz Arts Festival (1967–1977), an event that brought together artists from all over the world, mixing traditions and experimentation. Armin Hokmi recaptures its spirit, bringing back its sense of freedom and exploration through dance. More than a tribute, Shiraz is a new vision. It explores the connection between dance and place, between gestures and history, between memory and invention. The dancers trace ever-evolving paths, bringing the past to the stage and transforming it into the present. An act of sharing, movement, and rebirth.

Armin Hokmi is working with dance and choreography. He began in 2009 as a performer with independent theater in Iran and later continued to work and study abroad toward experiences with multiple performative practices and mediums. He holds a B.A. in acting from Norwegian Theatre Academy (2015-2018) and has received his M.A. in Solo/Dance/Authorship at HZT Berlin (2019-2021). Armin’s dance and movement language is an interplay between a sense of familiarity with known forms, and practices that elude recognition. Cultivating a horizon where different possibilities of referentiality converge in contrast and alteration. Particularly and in concern for dances that have been neglected and deemed unworthy of historical significance. His choreographic practice embarks throughout time and space, overflowing attention and persuading change through the constant unfolding of the dance into new trajectories. His recent works include Passages (2019), Public Dance, Permutable Stage (2021), International Dance (2022) and Shiraz (2024). As a dancer and performer he has worked with artists such as Mette Ingvartsen, Kasper Ravnhøj, Hooman Sharifi and Phillip Zarrilli among others. Armin is an associate artist at Montpellier Danse for 2024-2026.

Concept and choreography Armin Hokmi / Dance and performance Daniel Sarr, Luisa Fernanda Alfonso, Xenia Koghilaki, Aleksandra Petrushevska, Efthimios Moschopoulos, Johanna Ryynänen, Emmi Venna, Charlott Madeleine Utzig / Music EHSXN, Reza R / Scenography and light concept Felipe Osorio Guzmán / Lighting design Vito Walter / Created in conversation with Emmi Venna / Costumes Moriah Askenaizer / Consultation and archival study of the Shiraz Arts Festival (1966-1977) Vali Mahlouji
Coproduction Festival Montpellier Danse 2024, Rosendal Teater (Trondheim), Dansehallerne (Copenhagen), Black Box teater (Oslo), Tanzfabrik (Berlin) / Supported by Arts Council Norway, Nordic Culture Fund, FFUK, Nordic Culture Point / Residency support Montpellier Danse, Tanzfabrik (Berlin), Lake Studios (Berlin), Uferstudios (Berlin), DAVVI Center for Performing Arts Hammerfest / Research period supported by Dis-Tanzen / Thank you to Anne-Cécile Sibué, Rasmus Jensen, Diletta Sperman, Ellen Söderhult, Theatre Haus Berlin