The project «Ecstasy with the Pomegranate» («Usto Mumin»).
«Ecstasy with the Pomegranate» (Usto Mumin) is a synthesis of several genres including the combination of unique historical documents, which we've been able to discover through archive research, dance, an authentic score composed by Artem Kim, as well traditional theater.  The play will also contain some nontraditional use of multimedia bringing original artwork painted by Usto Mumin and other documentary materials into the play.

This collaborative project joins forces of the «Ilkhom Theater» (Tashkent, Uzbekistan), a U.S. choreographer David Rousseve, and myself, Mark Weil, in an attempt to recreate a story of the forgotten art that has completely disappeared from the culture of Central Asia.   This forgotten art, previously very prominent in the cultures of Tajik and Uzbek populations, is the art of dance, performed exclusively by young men called «bachas» (boy dancers).   Bacha dance, could somewhat be related to (though not exclusively) the art of actors from the Beijing Opera, which has traditionally been performed exclusively by young male actors and has developed during a specific period in time.   Historically, it was common for the art of theater and dance to have male-only cast and performers  (think about the Shakespearean time and theater).  In the cultures of Central Asia however, the idea was further complicated by the growing popularity of Islam, which overhauled teachings of Zoroastrianism and Sufism, and hid women behind paranja (between 18^th and 20^th century) forbidding them to express themselves through any kind of art performed in public.  

Prior to the Soviet rule and the oblitiration of strict Islamic traidtions, the art of Bacha Dance was the only traditional type of dance that has existed in Uzbekistan (then known as Turkistan). When in 1920's women were officially allowed to dance in public, they took all the elements from the existing Bacha dances and essentially recreated them. Thus the dances have remained almost the same, the only difference was the gender of the performers. That time was the beginning of a new era for the history of Uzbekistan, an era that has unfortunately demolished all traces of the original participants of the traditional Uzbek dance.  This play however, is not simply a documentation of this period in history, but rather a rich fictional story based around the life of a real-life Russian painter, Aleksandr Nikolaev, who attempted to take refuge in the Central Asia during the October revolutions. Aleksandr Nikolaev for a long time was neither accepted nor recognized by the rigid and constantly oppressive Stalin Administration. Upon his arrival in Turkistan, he fell in love with this new land. In order to dissolve himself in this new land close to his heart, he learned to speak Uzbek, converted to Islam and even took up a new name, Usto Mumin (The Quiet Master). His paintings captured dozens of images and scenes of the life of the Sufis and their philosophies on life, love, art, and eternity. On of the earliest themes explored by Usto (prior to the Stalin era of terror) was the youth and the art of the young Bacha boys and their graceful dance.  

This is the first time that such a project, in which the work and the paintings of Usto Mumin will be realized and embodied through theater and dance, will be attempted. Our almost detective-like plot will develop against the background of the rich historical calamities of the period; a unique period in Turkistan's history (1915-1917), which captures the transition between the rule of the Imperial Russia and the Soviet Russia in Turkistan. A period, during which many artists died, taking with them many cultural traditions, freedom of self-expression, as well as the freedom for various ways of living.              

The rehearsals will take place in two stages: the first in February and the second in August-September of 2006. 

The project will also involve the participants of the «Laboratory Of The Young Directors Of Central Asia», who will contribute to the creation of separate elements and in the process learn the usage of historical documents, painted art incorporated into the creation of a modern performance and general synthesis of theater and dance.

The project is supported: Doris Duke Fund for Dance of the National Dance Project, a program administered by the New England Foundation for the Arts with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and the Ford Foundation.

We thank for granting of a unique photographic material of Boris Golender.