Digital Dervish + Flamenco Sonic

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Photo: courtesy of Firoza

Digital Dervish + Flamenco Sonic is a story about a dervish who is in a dream and wakes up to birds and the sounds of nature- he begins to meditate and perform his sema. He becomes enveloped in a storm of chaos as he whirls wildly and then collapses where he becomes dormant again. A Flamenco dancer notices and begins to move in similar patterns attempting to awaken him. They exchange their sounds and movements until they become intertwined in whirling. This is a story about landscape, earth, love and life that encompasses music, imagery and physical movement. The movements and gestures which are specific to these dance traditions are being highlighted and augmented with an original wearable device called the Soundrop.

The Soundrop is a small wearable body instrument that is attached to the body via a strap on the wrist or ankle and tracks the speed of movement that a performer initiates. It emits sounds when it is moved; the greater the velocity of movement, the greater the volume of the sound being emitted from the device. It can be turned on or off by pressing a small sensor in the center of the device. LED lights also light up when the sound is emitted so that the wearer and the audience can understand that the action has been performed. It also gently vibrates on the skin providing a tactile cue. The devices are programmed with one sound each and are designed to add sound layers to a separate pre-recorded music composition. The dancer uses the device as an extension of the body.

The sema of the Dervish blurs the lines between dance and meditation while symbolically expressing the formation of the universe and man’s transference of love and respect to God. This ritual turning practice of the Mevlevi Sufi Order dates back to the 13^th century to Muhammed Celaleddin better known as Mevlana. The duende is the expression of the soul for a Flamenco dancer- a flame that is provoked when in a state of ecstatic movement. Duende is not a tangible concept but one that is felt throughout the body and conveyed through passionate and striking movements.

“A marvellous and moving show with many profound resonances.” -Archer Endrich

Photos: Lloyd Russell

Artistic Team

Music Composer, Wearable Tech Designer and Choreographer

Hedy Hurban is a designer of costumes and composer of electronic/electroacoustic music. She showcased her collections at DSYN O4 (Delhi, India) and has designed the costumes for the Operas Lampedusa (Plymouth, UK) and The Mother of Fishes (Pittsburgh, USA). Hedy is music composer for several short films such as Dead Body, Grand Theatre and Picture Palace, Bees Mecanique, the TV episode Green and Blue and the feature films Salaat and Deccani Souls. Her interest in interlacing sonic and digital art with traditional folk performance practices led her to create a prototype body instrument inspired by the Whirling Dervishes of Turkey called Dervish Sound Dress (2018) that combines music, wearable body technology and live performance. She has a BFA in Visual Arts from York University (Toronto) and a ResM in Computer Music from the University of Plymouth and is currently associate lecturer in Digital Art and Technology where she is completing her PhD.

Filmmaker and Production Designer

Kaz Rahman has worked extensively as Visual Artist, Filmmaker and Academic with both commercial and public institutions, festivals and broadcasters over the last 20 years. His work has played in film festivals and venues such as Anthology Film Archives (New York City), National Film Board of Canada (Toronto), India Habitat Centre (New Delhi), Salar Jung Museum (Hyderabad), Andy Warhol Museum (Pittsburgh), The San Jose Museum of Art (California), Bogazici Film Festival (Istanbul), SUFICINE Festival (Konya) and broadcast on TV24 (Turkey) and has been featured in publications such as The Times of India, The Hindu, The New Indian Express (India), Daily Sabah and Star Gazette (Turkey).

Visual Effects Editor

Barış Çelik’s work in visual effects and as a colorist reflects his interest in graphic design and illustration. He has a BA in Cinema from Istanbul Sehir University and his work has been part of award-winning short films both within Turkey and internationally. He is one of the founding members of Istanbul International Experimental Film Festival and is currently lecturer in film editing/montage at Istanbul Medipol University. He is editor on Green and Blue and Rebeldes Baseball.

Flamenco Dancer

Carolina Loyola-Garcia is a multidisciplinary artist, filmmaker and performer. She works primarily in media arts, including video art and installation, video design for theater, documentary and digital photography. She produced and directed the documentary film Sobre las Olas: A story of Flamenco in the U.S. (2013), which offers a comprehensive view of the art of flamenco in the United States. She received her MFA from Carnegie Mellon University and is Professor of Media Arts at Robert Morris University. As a performer she has worked in theater productions, dance ensembles and as a flamenco artist. Loyola-Garcia has worked with Quantum Theatre in the productions of The Red Shoes (2007), Maria de Buenos Aires (2011), Ainadamar (2012), Mnemonic (2013), and Looking for Violeta (2019) as well as Attack Theater’s production of the Rube Goldberg Variations (2019). She is also lead dancer and singer with the ensemble Alba Flamenca and performs all through Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Ohio and Western NY.

Dervish Performer

Mayez Rahman is a student at Lipson Co-operative Academy in Plymouth. He has lived in both Pittsburgh, USA and Istanbul, Turkey where he first encountered the traditions of the Whirling Dervishes. His interests include designing video games and all aspects of computer programming.

To learn more about Firoza, please visit https://www.firoza.co.uk/.