“What does it take to create a culture where it is allowed to fall into the bottomless abyss of heartache?”, asks Raoni Muzho Saleh. This poetic contemplation is the literary equivalent of Raoni’s ceremonial gatherings, which he calls “Mourning Socialities”. Throughout this episode, Raoni contemplates on the power and significance of the moan as an expression of mourning and how this sound connects with the profound states of loss and suffering. Interrogating himself, the listener and the societies of which they are a part, Raoni explores these questions in monologue and through moaning. By braiding the moan into the fabric of his speech, Raoni invites listeners to come together in a polyphonic groan to experience the commonality of grief. This bemoaning contemplation calls for a renewed relationship with the body and embodiment, where grief and loss are not only approached mentally and rationally but also experienced and expressed physically.
A transcript of the text is available here.
Raoni Muzho Saleh is a choreographer and performer based in Amsterdam. Born in Afghanistan and raised in Pakistan, his thinking and work is shaped by fugitivity as a radical movement. By dancing through the gender spectrum, Raoni has developed a unique movement practice that emphasizes “becoming other”, a continuous state of incompleteness. Through the use of materials such as textile, dough, voice, and text, Raoni invites a serious kind of play into space where all can become immersed in otherworldly stories.
This broadcast is the second of a three-part series on embodied listening and non-verbal vocal expression, curated by Radna Rumping. Other episodes: 'Laraaji - Guided Laughter Release' (out now) and ‘Laraaji, Raoni Muzho Saleh & Radna Rumping in conversation’ (3 October). All episodes will stay available through our archive.
 
For more information vGathering in a Polyphonic MOOOOAAAAAAANN Safeguards Solidarity Listen. Listen again. ahhhhhhhh... Take a moment to bring awareness to your breath. sighhhhhh What is present in your breathing at this moment? Listen again. ohhhhhh... Is there someone close to you? Listen to the space between you. Can you imagine what lies hidden within your comrade? hmmmm... Listen. As a choreographer and a dancer, I have been taken and persuaded by the moan in recent years. The moan as a choreographer, the moan as an ancestor, as a mentor, and the moan as an old friend. siiiiiiggghhhh This research has taken the form of both performances and collective lamenting events that I call "Mourning Sociality." For today I will share with you a bemoaning speech that questions how we can create a culture that guarantees the commonality of loss and grieving processes. I invite you to let this bemoaning speech sink into you with a gentle sigh. hhmmmmm What is our current cultural relationship with mourning, and how sustainable is this cultural behaviour? ohhhhhhh... Why is it normal to keep death hidden and confined to cemeteries and obituaries? For whom and for what is it beneficial to deal with mourning in this way? ahh ahh ahh aiiiiii The Western culture dominated by an imposed rationality, being the opposite of emotionality, prevents us from being present with death, with that age-old feeling of loss and mourning. aahhhhh-ahhhhhhhhhh We live in a culture where emotional disconnectedness and apathy have become normalised. Not too long ago, in this continent, the family of the deceased would hang white sheets from the windows to indicate that they had lost a loved one. The white sheets stood in solidarity with the family's mourning. In this way the grieving family signalled their pain to the outside world. The