Vico Nahmias

Strofodines


The title of this performance comes from the Ancient Greek word strofix (pivot) and is a metaphor for the delirious behaviour of the individuals who attain a state of religious ecstasy while whirling in place.


This is a technique which goes back many centuries and can be seen illustrated in stone reliefs of the Ancient Greek Kavirian mysteries, in Asian agrarian events and in American pre-Colombian ceremonies. Primarily, of course, this technique is known to us from the live, mystic Sufi tradition and the Order of the Whirling Dervishes, founded by Jelalludin Rumi (1207-1275), the poet and holy man of Islam.


Vico Nahmias has pored over this extensive material with great dedication, proposing a research spectacle which concerns the modern-day viewer, without being disloyal to the roots of its origin.