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Event
NOOR presented by Labyrinth Dance Theater Starring Felicia Norton
Sasha Spielvogel's critically acclaimed dance-theater piece, NOOR returns to the stage for one performance only at 3:30PM on Sunday, November 13, 2016, at Saint Mark's Church on 131 East 10th Street @ 2nd Avenue in the heart of New York City's East Village. Felicia Norton reprises her role as Noor and writer and director Sasha Spielvogel will once again direct the performance.
NOOR tells the story of unsung World War II hero, Noor Inayat Khan, a Sufi pacifist who became the first female wireless operator for Britain's SOE to covertly infiltrate Nazi-occupied Paris and was the last communication link between British and French forces. Noor's branch of Sufism taught that everyone should worship as they please. Thus, despite the fact that she was a pacifist, Noor felt she had to do something to save the lives of innocent people. With unbounded courage, Noor, whose code name was MADELEINE, managed to keep her unlikely spy ring operational even after its cover was blown, often doing the work of six Morse-code operators. Though the Nazis had a full description of her, she evaded capture during the summer of 1943. Eventually, after a stunning betrayal, she was caught and held captive at Gestapo headquarters in Paris. Her heroic life would end after being transferred to Dachau where she was executed. Defiant to the end, Noor's last cry was "LIBERTÉ!"
For her acts of bravery, and for never revealing any secrets or betraying her companions despite severe torture, Noor was posthumously awarded France's Croix de Guerre and Britain's George Cross. A bust of Noor, sculpted by Karen Newman, was unveiled by Princess Anne in 2012 at Gordon Square, London, the first of its kind in the UK to commemorate and Asian war heroine.
Felicia Norton (co-choreographer) performs the role she originated with an intensity and daring worthy of its subject. In this forty-minute tour de force, Norton's performance deftly captures the essence and nuance of Noor's heroism, beauty, and idealism for which Ms. Norton received standing ovations in London, Paris, Edinburgh and New York.
Emmy nominated composer David Majzlin's gripping score evokes Noor's inner spiritual world and the harsh outer world she put herself up against, integrating Noor's own poetry and music with speeches by Hitler and Churchill, Tagore's "My Country Awake," letters to her brother, Indian ragas, and songs by Edith Piaf.
"I believe in Noor and what she did", Sasha Spielvogel, founder and artistic director of Labyrinth Dance Theater, told Richard Holloway in a BBC Radio interview. "I feel, through dance, there is a great opportunity to repair the world." Spielvogel, whose own father escaped the holocaust, is known for creating dance performances with messages of social justice as well as bringing deeply humanistic subject matter to the stage.
Labyrinth Dance Theater/Sasha Spielvogel's work has been called "Totally mesmerizing!" "Striking!" "A powerful achievement!" "Raises the art form to where it should always be: Towering!"
Roger Ansanelli opens the program, singing and playing crystal bowls, creating a sacred space for the inspiring story of Noor.
Event will be followed by a Q&A
WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING ABOUT NOOR:
"Felicia Norton's dancing in NOOR by Labyrinth Dance Theater was beautiful, nuanced and subtle."
Amiel Clarke, Edinburgh Festivals Magazine
"Absorbing, gripping Story ... a treat for the mind ... Norton is an extraordinary dancer.."
- Backstage, New York
"Amazing dance theater piece. Dramatic, touching, heartbreaking. It's a must see for all major festivals!"
- Rose Hartman, Panorama Magazine
"Noor was such a fascinating and warm character, and dance is a great way of celebrating her life and achievements. Felicia danced her beautifully, and the music score was gripping."
- Amraine Rasool, Producer, BBC Radio Scotland
"The highlight of the show was Labyrinth Dance Theater's NOOR. Performer Felicia Norton was outstanding."
- Three Weeks, Edinburgh Festival review
"Some brilliant stuff, especially Labyrinth Dance - genuinely inspiring."
- Kay Leeds
"Fabulous! The work was so haunting!"
- Shelly Rochdale
"Labyrinth Dance Theater brings a narrative element back to the stage... thoroughly engaging, passionate performances."
- Hannah Myers, Broadway Baby, Fringe Review
"Labyrinth Dance Theater's production is an incredibly riveting and inspiring story. I saw NOOR at the New York premiere and the palpable sense of connection between the audience and Felicia Norton, who gives a 40-minute tour de force as Noor was amazing. I cannot praise NOOR enough."
Ellen McKey, Director, Foreign Fulbright Student Programs
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LocationSaint Mark's Church, NYC (View)
131 E 10th St, (@ 2nd Avenue)
New York, NY 10003
United States
Categories
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
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