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“Banafsheh is one of the greatest sacred dancers I have seen.” Deepak Chopra For bookings contact: ☎ (310) 499-7100 [email protected] www.banafsheh.org Banafsheh Internationally acclaimed Persian dance artist and educator, Banafsheh has been performing and teaching throughout North America, Europe, Turkey and Australia for a decade. In addition to contemporary Middle Eastern dance technique, Banafsheh teaches self-empowerment through dance, the inner dimensions of movement and experiential anatomy. Recognized for her fusion of high-level dance technique with spirituality, Banafsheh’s electrifying and wholly original dance style embodies the sensuous ecstasy of Persian Dance with the austere rigor of Sufi whirling – and includes elements of Flamenco, Tai Chi, and the Gurdjieff sacred Movements. Rumi lives through Banafsheh! Her movement is comprised in part by the Persian alphabet she has translated into gestures, which when put together she dances out poetic stanzas mostly from Rumi. With an MFA in Dance from UCLA and MA in Chinese Medicine, Banafsheh combines her dance expertise with the Taoist view of the internal functioning of the body, the Chakra system, Western Anatomy and Sufism to uncover movement that is at once healing, self-illuminating and connected to Spirit. The certification program she has founded, called Dance of Oneness® is about conscious embodiment. Known for her original movement vocabulary as well as high artistic and educational standards, Banafsheh comes from a long lineage of pioneering performing artists. Her father, the legendary Iranian filmmaker and actor, Parviz Sayyad is the most famous Iranian of his time. Banafsheh is one of the few bearers of authentic Persian dance in the world which is banned in her native country of Iran, and an innovator of Sufi dance previously only performed by men. A powerful model for women in the Middle East and the world, Banafsheh empowers women and men to overcome what keeps them from living their full potential. She has performed and taught Master classes in a residency in the Dance Masters Series at the Dance Center of Columbia College in Chicago; BYU in Provo, Utah; and annually at the Tanzhaus, nrw in Dusseldorf since 2005. She has taught Master Classes at UCLA, CalArts, Duke University and CSULB among others. She was the resident Dance Faculty at the Movement Salon in NYC. She currently resides in Los Angeles and holds annual workshops in prominent retreat centers in Turkey, Europe, Canada and in the US in New York, California and Hawaii. She tours the world with her performances and teaching residencies. “Breath-taking … startlingly beautiful.” SF Bay Guardian “Part whirling dervish, part flamenco femme fatale, sensuous and audacious, Banafsheh’s dance is a mesmerizing foray into the body as trance mechanism; a DNA strand, supple, fluid and noble, come to life.” Los Angeles Times Programs Dance of Oneness® Master Classes & Residencies Format: 3 hrs, 2-day, 3-day, 5-day, 7-day, 30-day Dance of Oneness® is about developing an organic dance technique based in listening, grounding, centering and freeing the midline of the body for energy to rise and descend without strain. It is a fusion of the art of dance: rigorous technique and self-expression, healing, and spiritual embodiment. Dance of Oneness® teaches the fundamentals of movement drawing from Sufi Ritual and Whirling, flamenco, Persian and Middle Eastern dances, modern release techniques, Tai chi and Chi gong. Mystical teachings and the poetry of Rumi, the Chinese Meridian system, the Chakra system and Western Anatomy are the theoretical groundwork. The benefits are manifold: Banafsheh breaks open flamenco, Middle Eastern dance and modern dance release techniques so dancers can become more present, magnetic, strong and sensual. She teaches the inner dimensions of movement and how dance can be approached as a spiritual practice. This approach not only gives depth and meaning to dance, it makes dancers more mesmerizing and alluring as performers. Banafsheh opens the secrets of Tai Chi and Chi gong to dancers and teaches them ways to conserve and gain energy through movement instead of losing energy. For master classes and residencies, Banafsheh can work with recorded music or with her long-time multi-instrumentalist musical partner Tony Khalife on guitar, drums and vocals. A master class or residency combined with her performance or screening of her film, In the Fire of Grace are among Banafsheh’s favorite and most effective offerings! Performances Banafsheh performs in a wide variety of venues ranging from theaters to churches, temples and outdoor stages. She performs solos with the option of recorded music or 2 - 4 musicians and an orator. Her program ranges from 15 min - 90 min. En/trance Banafsheh explores the theme of trance as entering into union with the Divine. Based on the ceremony of the Whirling Dervishes, she interprets the 4 stages of the ceremony through dance and spoken word. Eshq – Love’s Wild Fire Banafsheh offers a full-evening program of dance and live poetry evening with scholar and mystic Andrew Harvey. The essence of the Sufi path of love and of Rumi’s vision is ”Eshq,” the Persian word for ”love”— the wild passion of love that burns in every cell for the Beloved Creator. Banafsheh and Andrew take the audience on a holy and explosive journey into Eshq through a marriage of Banafsheh’s ecstatic dance with Rumi’s most poignant texts and Andrew’s inspired teachings. Outreach Q&A sessions: Post-performance and post-film screening. Lecture/Demonstrations and stand alone lectures: Topics include Rumi, Sufism, Sufi Dance & Music, Persian Dance, Women in the Middle East, Women in Sufism. 1hr-open community guided dance session followed by free-style dance jam: Post-performance. Current Residencies Listening to the Body (3 hours - 3 days) Exploring techniques that bring dancers in touch with allowing their movement to issue from listening to their body rather than telling it what to do. With this listening, dancers reflect on why they dance, connect to their sensuality and passion, and their own unique identity, using the arsenal of technique they have acquired over time from a new place inside. The emphasis is on clarity of form, developing stillness, use of breath, tempo, articulation, fluidity, strength, efficiency and conscious moving. Sacred Dance of Whirling (2 - 7 days) Step by step, dancers will learn the sacred dance of Whirling or Sama which means ‘to listen,’ complete with the meaning, philosophy and symbolism of this form which puts us directly in touch with the creative flow. They will find inspiration from the poetry of Rumi, which he composed and recited in unbroken rhyme and meter when he was whirling. Special attention is given to the significance of this ancient practice for contemporary dancers. Wisdom of the Body - Experiential Anatomy and Physiology for Dancers (2 - 7 days) We are blessed to have all the wonder of the universe right here in our bodies – operating mostly without our conscious awareness. What happens, though, when we DO bring our conscious awareness to our breath, our movement, our organs and our energy? How much more effective and connected can we become as dancers? Dancers will tune into the wisdom of their body and dance to radiate more life force, joy and vitality. Through Banafsheh’s unique experiential anatomy and physiology program, they will take a dance journey into the inner functioning and structures of their body that will enhance their dancing and give them a wealth of choreographic ideas. Contemporary Persian and Middle Eastern Dances (3 hours - 7 days) Dancers will learn Banafsheh’s original fusion of contemporary release techniques with Persian and Middle Eastern dances. By learning to balance directed movement with listening to the body and allowing movement to emerge, the form cultivates a sensual, fluid strength. Choreography (2 - 30 days) Banafsheh is available for choreography commissions as well as teaching from her existing repertoire. Sufi Dance Dance as a sacred practice is a meditation in movement that is peaceful, liberating and passionate, integrating all aspects of ourselves, both the spiritual and the sensual. It’s a way to embody ourselves fully in the NOW, transforming what keeps us small, broken and limited to greatness, wholeness and vastness on a level that both surpasses the mind and informs it simultaneously. It is a letting go of the unnecessary that bares us down to our essence, a shedding of the veils that keep us from experiencing what it really means to be alive. And what it really means to be alive, says the Dalai Lama, is to “embody the transcendent” - living the infinite in the finite day-to-day life - in all aspects of life. The sacred Sufi dance of Sama or whirling as practiced by the Whirling Dervishes is a journey to embody the transcendent. Sama, which literally means to listen, is a meditation in letting the chaos of the voices in our head quiet down so we can listen to the voice of the Beloved in our heart. The ceremony of the Sama consists of seven sections, replete with great meaning and deep symbolism. The fifth section, is the actual whirling portion of the ceremony, maps out a complete spiritual path in four parts known as salutes, or Salams. The first salute is the complete recognition of the whirler or Samazan of the existence of the Creator - the testimony that YES the universe has divine origin and not only have I been simply created but created in the image of the Creator. The second salute expresses the Samazan’s recognition of the Creator within all that is created, namely seeing the holiness in all people and all of nature leading to a sense of reverence for all. The third salute is the annihilation of the self in the Beloved Creator.
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