LABYRINTH DANCE THEATER

Sasha Spielvogel, Artistic Director

presents

Felicia Norton as

Noor

CREATIVE TEAM

Labyrinth Dance Theater: Producer
Writer & Director: Sasha Spielvogel
Choreography: Sasha Spielvogel and Felicia Norton
Performer: Felicia Norton
Score: David Majzlin
Costumes: Millie del Rio, Karen Young

NOOR, a highly charged dance theater work, tells the true story of Noor-un-nisa Inayat Khan, daughter of renowned classical Hindustani musician and Sufi Master, Hazrat Inayat Khan.

Written and directed by Sasha Spielvogel, with an original score by David Majzlin, co-choreographed with Felicia Norton, this 40 minute solo featuring Ms. Norton as NOOR is based on the incredible journey of a Sufi pacifist, brought up in a house filled with music, art and spirituality who became a courageous spy during WWII. Her intention-to save innocent victims from Nazi oppression.

Noor Code named Madeleine, Noor Inayat Khan, was the first woman Wireless Operator working for Britain's SOE covertly infiltrated into Nazi occupied Paris. As she landed, her spy ring collapsed around her and Noor was ultimately the last communication link between London and Paris. She was betrayed, held prisoner in Gestapo headquarters at 84 Avenue Foch and finally shot at Dachau in 1944.

Her last word was LIBERTÉ !
Her beauty was such that her captors wept when they learned of her death.

Noor Inayat Khan was posthumously awarded the Croix de Guerre with Gold Star and the George Cross MBE, France and Britain's highest awards to civilians for acts of bravery during wartime. A memorial bust by sculptor Karen Newman was unveiled by Princess Ann on November 8, 2012 at Gordon Square in London, where Noor's family lived after they fled the Nazi invasion of Paris in 1940. The statue is the first of its kind in England to honor an Asian woman.

NOOR has been performed in
Paris, London, New York, Edinburgh, and in the U.S. to standing ovations and great reviews.

Noor

“ABSORBING…GRIPPING STORY…
A TREAT FOR THE MIND…
FELICIA NORTON – AN EXTRAORDINARY DANCER…”
- BACKSTAGE

“AMAZING DANCE THEATER PIECE. DRAMATIC, TOUCHING, HEARTBREAKING.
NOOR, is a remarkably poignant and exciting piece of dance/theater.
Felicia Norton is a brilliant dancer whose embodiment of Noor Inayat Khan's character
SHOULD BE SEEN AT ALL THE MAJOR FESTIVALS.
IT’S A MUST SEE!
– ROSE HARTMAN

Noor was such a fascinating and warm character, and dance is a great way of celebrating her life and achievements. Felicia danced her beautifully, and the music score was gripping.
- AMRAINE RASOOL, PRODUCER, BBC RADIO SCOTLAND

TRAILER

RADIO INTERVIEW

BBC Scotland Radio interview with Sasha Spielvogel
on "Sunday Morning with Richard Holloway"
on youTube.

Voice of Noor: Holly Villaire
Jullian Emma Burger reading "The Great Elephant Tale" from The Twenty Jataka Tales by Noor-un-nisa Inayat Khan

"Song to the Madzub" words and music by Noor Inayat Khan, adapted for cello by David Majzlin
Poems written by Noor
"La Violette", "The Lamp of Joy"
"My Country Awake" by Rabrindrath Tagore

Script development based on research from the following sources:
Madeleine by Jean Overton Fuller
Spy Princess by Shrabani Basu
A Man Called Intrepid by William Stevenson
A Life in Secrets Vera Atkins and the Missing Agents of WW11 by Sarah Helm
Between Silk and Cyanide: A Codemaker's War 1941-1945 by Leo Marks
We Rubies Four: The Memoirs of Claire Ray Harper by Claire Ray Harper and David Ray Harper

Special Thanks: Shrabani Basu, Stuart Hodes, Sophia Paris, Christine Jowers, David Burger, Bruce Benedict, Doug Barron.

ABOUT NOOR

Noor Inayat Khan Noor-un-Nisa Inayat Khan (1914-1944) was the daughter of an American mother and of renowned spiritual Sufi master, the classically trained Indian musician Hazrat Inayat Khan. She was stunningly beautiful, dreamy, kind and loving, brought up on music, art and passive resistance as a way of life - not the stuff that spies are made of. Yet, compelled by an inner strength to do the right thing, Noor risked her life as the world went mad. Noor, whose undercover name was “Madeleine”, was trained by Britain's SOE and was the first woman Morse code operator in occupied France during WWII. She continued to transmit even as the other spy cells collapsed around her, becoming the last communications link between Paris and London. She was eventually betrayed to the Nazis and was interrogated and executed in 1944. A plaque in her memory at the gates of Dachau is testament to her noble spirit. She was posthumously awarded the George Cross (UK) and the Croix de Guerre (France), their countries' highest honors to a civilian.

Britian honours Noor-un-Nisa Inayat Khan with a stamp as part of the series 10 famous people born in 1914. (see the series on BBC News)

READ ARTICLE ABOUT NOOR at MAIL ONLINE:

Tribute to an Indian princess who died for our freedom: Sculpture unveiled of spy tortured and executed by Nazis after refusing to betray Britain. Read online article at Mail Online.

Felicia Norton as Noor FELICIA NORTON received standing ovations in London, Paris and New York for her performance as NOOR. She has toured internationally with her solo repertory, created for her by several dance luminaries and is featured in the book, DANCERS by Philip Traeger. Jennifer Dunning of The New York Times described her as ‘an extraordinary dancer’ and John Percival in The London Times wrote ‘she was the single best dancer in the festival, performing with a display of extraordinary sensual intensity’ and was deemed the discovery of the evening at the Third International Festival of Dance in Brussels. Felicia’s collaborations with Bessie Award winning violinist Leroy Jenkins were called ‘magical’ by Jack Anderson. She traveled to Finland with Ms. Spielvogel to perform in Sasha’s Sacred & Blue, and appears in her film, Dark Angel. Ms. Norton studied with Noor’s brother, Pir Vilayat Khan who taught Sufism in the West.

DAVID MAJZLIN Film credits include Stille, (Winner - Best Score - Avignon Film Festival), the multi-award-winning documentary, Herb and Dorothy, The Loving Story (HBO Films), Youth Knows No Pain (HBO Films), and Sins Of My Father, Emmy nominee (HBO Films). He also wrote additional music for Sunshine Cleaning, starring Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, and Alan Arkin, and source music for The Ghost Writer (dir., Roman Polanski, starring Pierce Brosnan and Ewan McGregor), All Good Things (dir., Andrew Jarecki, starring Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst), and The Joneses (starring Demi Moore and David Duchovny). In addition to scoring Ms. Spielvogel’s No Way Out But Through and Dark Angel, David has also worked with choreographer, Laura Gorenstein Miller (Helios Dance Company) and artist Lou Reed, composer Paul Cantelon, and violinist Daisy Jopling (Triology).

SASHA SPIELVOGEL is the Artistic Director of Labyrinth Dance Theater, a classically trained modern dance company in New York. The company has used puppets, stilt walkers and musicians on stage and often commissions new dance scores. Ms. Spielvogel is pleased to work with artists who possess a seamless blend of dramatic intensity and technical excellence and is deeply gratified when the audience is moved by the company’s work. Critics from the New York Times to Attitude Magazine have described Ms. Spielvogel’s work as, “Totally mesmerizing,” “Striking!,’ “A powerful achievement performed superbly” and “Raises the art form to where it should always be: Towering!” Among her internationally performed repertory, which runs the gamut from the deeply serious to the sexy and comedic are: Waltz for a Shatered World, Goya and The Sleep of Reason, Passing, Les Espaces Du Sommeil, Auditioning for the Celestial Follies and a series of tangos, Entre Nosotros. Dark Angel, a dance film featuring Hannu Hyttinen, was screened in New York City and at the LOIKKA Dance Film Festival in Helsinki in 2009. NOOR, has received standing ovations in London, Paris & New York. Appeared at the International Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, at the Rudolf Steiner Theater in London, August 2011, and The Scottish Story Telling Centre, Edinburgh, Scotland, 2013.

PHOTO GALLERY

PERFORMANCE HISTORY

Sarah Lawrence College, Suzanne Werner Wright Theater at the Performing Arts Center, 2017
St. Mark’s Church, New York, 2016
The Scottish Story Telling, Edinburgh, Scotland, 2013
Rudolf Steiner Theatre, London, England
Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Booking Dance, Scotland
Bryant Park, New York, NY
Shambhala Institute, Boulder, Colorado
Erasing Borders: Festival of Indian Dance, New York, NY
The Nehru Centre, London, UK with introduction by Shrabani Basu, author of Spy Princess: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan
Fazal Manzil, Noor’s family home, Suresnes, France
Angel Orensanz Synagogue/Center for the Arts, New York, NY
Arts at The Abode, New Lebanon, NY
Premiere April 18, 2008 Sarasota, Florida, Performing Arts Center at Rising Tide

NOOR ON DVD

NOOR is also available on DVD

Labyrinth Dance Theater's NOOR on DVD

If you would like to purchase the DVD please email
labyrinthdance@gmail.com

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PRESS MATERIALS & PHOTOS

All photos are in high resolutiion 8x10 jpegs.
Click with your right mouse button and save to your computer.

Felicia Norton as NOOR. Photo: Eve Cuyen

Felicia Norton as NOOR. Photo: Mira Steinzor

PRESENTORS & BOOKING INFORMATION:

	opening set with musicians appropriate to the feel of the evening
	DVD commentary with historic photographs of Noor's family, her times and her recruitment into Britain's SOE.
	Educational Outreach Talk Back audiences engage in discussion regarding Noor Inayat Khan’s noble sacrifice during this dark period of history; works well for all ages particularly school children. Artistic Talk Back the creative development of NOOR and the decisions that went into choosing the theatrical and musical elements.
	Interactive installation in a separate room. Audience walks through multiple layers of hanging saris while viewing DVD installation tracing Noor's life.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

NOOR requires a minimum of 25x25 ft. space -- 8x8 meters, on a sprung wood or Marley floor.
uses minimal amount of props with a quick set up and strike, requires two sturdy chairs.
Ms. Norton does not exit stage during the entire performance.
works well in outdoor spaces, needs suitable dance floor.
uses recorded sound on CD.

BOOKING INFORMATION

BROCHURE: For your consideration Labyrinth Dance Theater presents NOOR

NOOR'S Interactive Installation

CONTRACT TERMS

Catering /payment expenses for 3 people Artistic Director, performer. Installation artist, optional.
Depending on the number of shows and options (Interactive installation, musicians…).
Please contact: labyrinthdance@msn.com