SAHARAVA: A Ritualized Dance-Opera
nytheatre.com q&a preview by Andre Megerdichian
July 26, 2012
What is your job on this show?
Co-Creator/Director/Choreographer.
When did you know you wanted to work in the theater, and why?
I started dancing during my senior year of military school. At that time I was just happy to have a class with girls in it. When I got to collage I took a double major in Sociology and Dance. A few month into my freshman year I had a thunderbolt moment, where I realized I would be doing this for the rest of my life. I dropped sociology and never looked back.
Complete this sentence: My show is the only one in FringeNYC that...?
has twenty-two performers!
Do you think the audience will talk about your show for 5 minutes, an hour, or way into the wee hours of the night?
The first time we did Saharava, at California Institute of the Arts, it was like watching something come to life and take on an identity beyond what I had imagined. For weeks after people kept coming up to us and telling us how the show changed them, that they still thought about it and were continually moved. At that point I just felt grateful for being a part of something bigger than me.
Which “S” word best describes your show: SMOOTH, SEXY, SMART, SURPRISING?
Surprising
If you had ten million dollars that you had to spend on theatrical endeavors, how would you use the money?
Fahad and I would have to decide if we wanted to see Saharva as a Broadway show or at Lincoln Center.
