13th century Persian poetry comes to life under the Chabot Planetarium dome

“Circle of Light” director Amir Aziz was born in Iran the week the Iran-Iraq War began 1980 and immigrated to Canada with his family when he was 3 years old. He remembers the land of his ancestors portrayed through images of conflict and political turmoil.

Even as a child, he understood that human connection wasn’t built through wartime policies, negotiated treaties or diplomatic embassies but in the way cultures have always found common ground, through art.

Informed by that experience and a lifetime of “bridge-walking” between cultures, Aziz created “Circle of Light,” an immersive audiovisual experience to engage audiences in Persian culture through the work of one of its greatest cultural ambassadors, Rumi, the 13th century poet and scholar, and the teachings of Rumi’s spiritual mentor, Shams Tabrizi.

Returning this weekend to the Chabot Space & Science Center, where it made its premiere in the spring, Circle of Light brings together Rumi’s poetry, recited in its original Persian by celebrated Iranian tenor Shahram Nazeri, 360 degrees of animated projected visuals, and an original score by Azam Ali and Loga Ramin Torkian.

“My aim was to put together an experience that had the authenticity that the Persian-speaking world could connect to but at the same time was inspiring to a Western audience,” Aziz said.

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The production began during the COVID-19 pandemic and took four years to complete. It premiered in Oakland in May and has since opened in 11 other cities, including Portland, Tampa, Vancouver and Columbus.

It was essential that Rumi’s poetry be heard in its original language, allowing audiences to experience the profound lyricism and rhythm it holds, something Aziz sees as often lost in Western translation.

“You can go to the opera and not understand a word of Italian or Latin,” he said, “but you can totally feel what’s happening.”

Inside the dome, that intention grows into a vast visual and musical universe.

Persian architectural forms unfold across the crescent canvas as the score emerges in deep, hypnotic tones. Turkish and Iranian instruments like the kopuz and kaval are integrated with Western string arrangements and electric quarter-tone guitar, bringing together western and eastern, the ancient and the modern, and creating the foundation for Nazeri’s recitation.

“I always say a composer is like an architect,” Torkian said. “You have to have an intent of what that space is going to do. Once that’s defined, the space is defined, and you go ahead and fill it up.”

‘Elevating the spirit’

Circle of Light uses every inch of space and sense to transport the audience into a deeper place of connection and understanding.

“As a whole, I really hope that it would kind of be able to bring a moment of elevating the spirit,” Torkian said.

For Aziz, the experience carries significance beyond what’s portrayed within the dome, given that it opens as the U.S is seven months into a war with Iran.  

“Sharing what we consider to be the true face of our culture and the ancient beauty and wisdom of our culture, I think, is even more important during a time of upheaval,” Aziz said.

And for the team behind Circle of Light, the work extends beyond both the past and the present moment to what is carried forward.

“We have an obligation both to ourselves and to our next generation,” Torkian said, “to continue to show an alternative narrative of who we are and what we do.”

(Photo courtesy of Circle of Light)

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