Ancient story told in dance
Imagine “Brokeback Mountain” with caftans and you’ll have some idea of the love story underpinning “Rumi: Path to Enlightenment,” the new dance drama choreographed by the locally based Anna Djanbazian, a multiple Lester Horton Dance Award winner in 2004. Inspired by the 13th century relationship between a wild holy man and the scholar and theologian credited with creating the whirling dervish ceremony, Djanbazian’s two-act production features live percussion, singing, spoken texts, improvisational movement and contemporary choreography that physicalizes images and themes from Rumi’s writings. Call it Rumi with a view, the spiritual and the sensual fused on the stage as they are in his poems.
“Rumi: Path to Enlightenment,” Freud Playhouse, UCLA campus, Westwood. 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. $35 and $45. (310) 825-2101 or (818) 580-2170.
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