Report on WAALM®'s Official Announcements by Darius KADIVAR

(**)

Dishevel Thy tress; and, to mystic dancing, bring the Sufi,
That, from every patch of his ragged garment, thousands of idols, Thou mayst scatter

-Hafiz of Shiraz

With a deeply rooted culture and civilization that spans over more than two millenniums, Persians as a community both inside and outside their motherland have greatly contributed to the Arts and intellectual emancipation of their contemporaries. Paradoxically the turmoil's of history and exile have also enriched an introspection on ourselves as a community and on our responsibility as Artists, Writers or Intellectuals as well as citizens of our country of adoption to play a part in a dialogue of civilizations so necessary in our tormented World. It is to respond to the growing desire of not only recognition but also encouragement of Persian Artists, Writers and people of culture Worldwide as well as that of their colleagues in their new country of adoption that The World Academy of Arts, Literature, and Media – WAALM® took an unprecedented initiative to support, develop, and promote the dramatic and fine arts, creative writing and poetry, as well as professional journalism and media productions by identifying and rewarding excellence, inspiring practitioners, and benefiting the public. Thus it has created the Golden Persian Lioness Awards® which is in its second year of existence has no other ambition than to encourage and promote men and women who through their work subscribe to the humanistic values and love of beauty so dearly cherished by our great Persian poets through the ages.

The World Academy of Arts, Literature, and Media – WAALM®  is proud to announce that this years recipient Awardees will pay tribute to two generations of  Ballet Maestro's whose work, dedication and contribution to their Art has gained the respect of their peers.

The board of governors and by authority of the same on recommendation of the Academy, hereby confirm the nomination of :

Maurice Béjart For a Lifetime Achievement Award of Excellence in Dramatic Arts Category (Dance Choreographer )

And

Shahrokh Meshkin Ghalam an Award of Excellence in Dramatic Arts Category (Best Ballet Dancer)

If needed to present the Great Maurice Béjart, the latter is a French choreographer who runs the Béjart Ballet He was born in Marseille  France and founded the Ballet de l' Etoile company in 1954. In 1960 he founded the Ballet du XXe Siècle in Brussels   and in 1987 moved to Lausanne   in Switzerland  where he founded Béjart Ballet. In keeping with European tradition, he emphasizes content over innovation in movement. Many of his themes are academic, cultural, or biographical in content; he has been influenced by mysticism, and East Asian influences can be detected throughout his dances. His expressionist style incorporates jazz and avant-garde music, nontraditional dance forms, e.g., acrobatics, and unusual settings. Among his works are Symphony for a Lonely Man, Mass for the Present Time, Tannhäuser, and La Flûte enchantée. His companies included many great dancers such as Jorge Donn, Daniel Lommel, Gil Roman; others, such as Paolo Bortoluzzi or Suzanne Farrell. He was also to greatly contribute to the Persian Ballet Repertoire (**) in the late 60's and 70's performing at the famous Roudaki Hall in Tehran created under the supervision of the former Empress of Iran, Shahbanou Farah Pahlavi. One of the highlights of his contributions to Iranian Ballet was the creation of two consecutive ballets during the Persepolis Celebrations of 1971. One based on the Golestan Sa'adi with Iranian musicians Nur Ali Brumand,  Nourredin RAZAVI Sarvestan & Dariush TALA'I  and another with the same musicians called Farah intribute to the Shahbanou. The latter was once again used for Béjarts 1995 ballet Scherehazad. IHis spiritual and philosophical quest has led him to the creation of a new Ballet which performed its premiere amidst standing ovation and cheers last December in Lausanne Switzerland and continues an international tour through Europe with immense success.

Entitled Zarathoustra. Le chant de la danse aka Zarathustra. the song of the dance the scarcely two-hour ballet for 50 dancers is based on works of Friedrich Nietzsche's, particularly his book "thus spoke Zarathustra". Béjart called the work the coronation of his occupation of many years with the German philosopher - the premiere public followed this opinion. When the 78 year old Béjart stepped on the stage, he was cheered by a standing ovation of approximately 2400 spectators which lasted several minutes.

In "Zarathustra" , Béjart seems to have united all constant themes of his work with topics such as  love, death and war. His work moves technically between the classical period and avant-garde. With this piece Béjart considers he has achieved his vision of "total theatre", in which language, music, dance and direction join a complete work flow together.