Love, Carnal and Divine
Conceived and performed by Niloufar Talebi
Music by Bobak Salehi
Performed at the Riverside Theatre, NYC (2009)
Royce Hall, Los Angeles (2010)
Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2013)
I have performed 3 programs on the theme of, Love, and all its colors. In addition to shorter contemporary poems, including ones by Ahmad Shamlou, on love for humanity, erotic love, etc., the longest poem comes from Ferdowsi’s 10th-Century epic masterpiece, Shahnameh: The Epic of the Persian Kings. It unfolds the scene of Tahmineh’s seduction of the valiant hero, Rostam, who was staying at her father’s castle after his horse was mysteriously stolen, the search for which leads him into the castle. There are numerous illustrations in various manuscripts of the Shahnameh depicting the epic scene.