an exploration of the figure of Iblis -
the greatest monotheist, the greatest Lover
a journey in dance, text and music
from the time before time,
through his separation from his Beloved,
his quest for the same,
through to his ecstatic annihilation.
He Who Burns is an exploration through dance, text and music of the figure of Iblis, Satan, as understood in some Sufi traditions. Through this lens, the dance-theater piece explores the nature of humanity's relationship with the divine, the eternal quest for unity and the illusion of duality in the human experience.
He Who Burns takes our notion of good and evil, the divine and the satanic, and turns it on its head. Staged as a trio, He Who Burns takes us on a journey from the time before time, through the suffering of Iblis in his separation from his Beloved, and his quest for the same, through to his ecstatic annihilation.
The performance at once parallels the Sufi quest, as outlined in the great Sufi text, “Conference of the Birds,” and the structure of the Bharata Natyam performance. The text, from the Persian, Arabic and Urdu of Al-Hallaj, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Mohammed Iqbal, Al Ghazzali, Hafiz and Maulana Jelaluddin Rumi, is performed in Urdu, English and Korean.
He Who Burns is rooted in the great and ancient tradition of syncretism - combining dance and theatre, elements of Islam and Hinduism, and growing out of theatre and dance techniques and theory as divergent as Brazilian Capoeira, Japanese Butoh, Sanskrit Theater, Contact Improvisation, West African dance and American Sign Language poetry.
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