Pray - Lake Urmia: Water scarcity poses a real danger for the future of Iran, and the Islamic Republic of Iran refuses to allow any environmental experts to address the issue. Instead, government officials, and extremists, see ‘prayer’ as the primary solution for the crisis. Their response to the problem is to pray and wait for God’s will. The Islamic Republic of Iran is deliberately destroying Iran’s ecosystem and financially benefiting from constructing nonstandard dams. Iran had only about 27 dams before the 1979 revolution, but that number has increased to 588 dams and 137 more under construction. As a result of these dams, notable lakes and natural water resources have completely dried up. Lake Urmia, is the second largest salt lake in the world but it has dried up in the span of 20 years. Lakes like Urmia and Hamoun, are historically significant because they are believed to be the birthplaces of Zoroaster, founder of Zoroastrianism, one of the world’s oldest monotheistic religions in ancient Persia (modern-day Iran). Zoroaster’s mother, Dughdova, was impregnated by the god Ahura Mazda in Lake Urmia. And Anahita, the goddess of water in ancient Persia considers Lake Urmia as her sacred waters.
Dancers: Rebecca Pelleri, Lorenzo Guerrini, Monica Plaza
Choreographer: Tina Bararian
Stage Designer: Dhruv Patel
Publicist: Leila A Miller
composer-performer: Ana Luisa Diaz de Cossio
Presented at The Tank