RISE UP - Arash Behzadi

Rise Up Official Video Zan. Zendegi. Azadi - Women. Life. Freedom. Tentative notes signal apprehension. A woman, drenched to the bone, struggles through knee deep water. Arms flailing, she forges ahead with powerful strides. Against the tide. She is all women of Iran heroically pushing against the tide of unspeakable obstacles. Suddenly her path is blocked by fierce looking men pointing guns. She is the target. She is all Iranian women, targeted by a cruel, misogynistic regime. The armed men force the woman back. Stark piano notes hover then suspend. A black clad figure appears. She is all Iranian women, cloaked in anonymity by chadors; by rigid discriminatory laws; denied basic human rights. The figure encased in black looms large as the woman flees, then falls. The forces of barbaric cruelty and persecution have stepped up their assault. She rises. Piano and cello rise in a cautious crescendo. Can there possibly be hope? The woman’s anguished dance is punctuated once again by the figure in black, Repression. Oppression. Subjugation. The world is dark and colourless. But then . . . a hint of light cracks open the tunnel that is her world. Suddenly there is more light! Dawn envelops the sky. A woman’s ams emerge fo the chador. They pull at the smothering fabric. She is all the women of Iran, tearing off their hijabs in a cry of defiance heard around the world. The dancer tugs at her hair. She is all the women of Iran, defiantly, heroically, furiously, cutting off their long dark hair. Such a highly charged symbolic gesture where a strand of visible hair is cause for a beating, for imprisonment, even death. No! No! This must end! The dancer struggles, a butterfly emerging from its constricting cocoon. Like a baby bird cracking free of its shell. Throwing off the chains of tyranny. She is every Iranian woman. Undaunted. Unafraid. Steeped in courage. Lightning crashes through the darkness. The gods have spoken. The woman turns her face to the dawn and inhales, then sighs. An all encompassing sigh. A sigh that carries the weight of decades of misery. Of anguish. The women of Iran have suffered enough! Tyranny must be smashed! The woman stares warily into the unknown. The battle has only begun. She races towards a new future. She is all the brave women of Iran. The fearless women. The strong women who will prevail. Zan. Zendegi. Azadi Women. Life. Freedom. Music Composer: Arash Behzadi Director / Producer: Dimitri Legrand Choreographer: Anna Tarasenko Script: Dee Gibney #piano #riseup #pianonewage #pianomusic