Banafsheh Sayyad with NAMAH and ZARBANG, by Andre Elbing

NAMAH & ZARBANG

October 16, 17 & 18 * 8:00 p.m.

One of the few bearers of Persian dance outside of Iran where women’s dancing is banned in public, Banafsheh Sayyad and the work of her company NAMAH, aims to express the power of ancient mysticism through a combination of hypnotic trance and directed movement. Sayyad’s dance language traverses culture, weaving together the ethereal beauty of Persian dance with the physically charged and intuitive power of her own contemporary style. NAMAH’s program of solos and ensemble work will be accompanied live by ZARBANG, a four-member Iranian percussion and woodwind ensemble.

OTHER EVENTS

Rumi and the Way of Ecstasy Movement Workshop,

led by Banafsheh Sayyad and Andrew Harvey

monday, October 13, 6:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Second Nature
1750 N. Kingsbury Street, 2nd floor

one and a half blocks north of North Avenue on the west side of Kingsbury Street

Free and open to the public

Banafsheh Sayyad and mystical scholar Andrew Harvey will conduct a music, poetry and movement workshop, "Rumi and the Way of Ecstasy," an in-depth exploration of Rumi's message through "ecstatic dance," music, teaching and reading the Persian poet's texts. This workshop demystifies whirling, offering access to the Sufi meditation of Sema in a few simple steps, allowing people of all experience levels to whirl for a sustained period with ease.

DanceMasters Class, led by Banafsheh Sayyad/NAMAH

Tuesday, October 14, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Old Town School of Folk Music
4544 N. Lincoln Avenue

With emphasis on embodiment, presence and moving with intention, the class will weave together the sensual and ethereal beauty of Persian dance with the passionate and explosive, yet quietly intuitive, power of Banafsheh’s contemporary creations, an interplay between trance and directed movement. Students will learn short movement phrases that focus on wave motion: liquid yet grounded movement, whole body undulations using the maximum range of the spine and torso, and sensing through our chakras. more info...

Post-Performance Discussion

Thursday, October 16
Free and open to ticket holders

FamilyDance Matinee

Saturday, October 18, 3:00 p.m.
Free Adult/Child Movement Workshop begins at 2:15 p.m.
more info...