Some days I think I am slowly getting too old for all the ups and downs and the ranges of emotion to which I am subjected in this phase of my life! When all in the same week I see floods and famine, disease and displacement, fear and injustice, happiness and celebration, and nostalgia and longing, I get on an emotional see-saw which has serious physical side-effects for me (that’s it--you can’t get the rest out of me!). This having been no exception, I bring a week of pain and joy to an end. I have written about most of the pains of the week, and the joys were not really big ones, worthy of a report, but there just the same, keeping up the balance in my life.
It is Friday and I leave you with a treat this weekend, having to do with, what else, dance! This is Banafsheh Sayyad. She is daughter to Parviz Sayyad[1]. Banafsheh is an accomplished dancer and choreographer, who holds an MFA in Dance from UCLA where she taught Mystical Persian dance. She has studied with some of the great masters in dance and choreography including Antonia Rojos, Victoria Marks, David Rousseve and Donna Uchizono. She has her own dance company, Namah, in Los Angeles. I saw Banafsheh perform when she had just begun her professional career in 1990 or 1991. It was so clear then that she would go far with her art—and she has. Take a look at this and come back, please.
I love the way she has combined the spiritual Iranian percussion instrument of Daf with her own interpretation of the spiritual dance, providing an excellent visual effect. Though by now she is an accomplished expert on the new brand of Persian dance she has developed in her repertoire, you can see here that as a choreographer, she can lead her dance company into more complicated Western routines, bordering ballet moves. I love watching her move, with such confidence and pure joy, accompanied by good musicians[2] and good dancers, creating an artistic and provocative total effect. If you want to see more, look here, here, and here. You can also go to her website for more information.
I hope that the weekend brings you rest and joy, and that you recreate yourselves successfully. I’m off to another weekend every moment of which is scheduled (yikes—couldn’t help it!). There will be a wedding, a book party, a lecture, two dinners, and two “labor-of-love” projects in my weekend. I’ll tell you all about them if they turn out report-worthy, as I always do. In the meantime, kiss, hug, hold, serenade, and confess your love to those you love! Those of you with less exciting lives, be cool and be kind to those around you! Your turn will come, too! Have a good weekend y’all.
[1] Who gave us years of joy in his Samad series on Iranian TV and cinema (actually, there is so much to be said about Parviz Sayyad and his comedy and serious works, and someday I will say them, but this post is not about him.)
[2] Pejman Haddadinia’s Zarbang
6/22/2007
Dance of Soul
Some days I think I am slowly getting too old for all the ups and downs and the ranges of emotion to which I am subjected in this phase of my life! When all in the same week I see floods and famine, disease and displacement, fear and injustice, happiness and celebration, and nostalgia and longing, I get on an emotional see-saw which has serious physical side-effects for me (that’s it--you can’t get the rest out of me!). This having been no exception, I bring a week of pain and joy to an end. I have written about most of the pains of the week, and the joys were not really big ones, worthy of a report, but there just the same, keeping up the balance in my life.
It is Friday and I leave you with a treat this weekend, having to do with, what else, dance! This is Banafsheh Sayyad. She is daughter to Parviz Sayyad[1]. Banafsheh is an accomplished dancer and choreographer, who holds an MFA in Dance from UCLA where she taught Mystical Persian dance. She has studied with some of the great masters in dance and choreography including Antonia Rojos, Victoria Marks, David Rousseve and Donna Uchizono. She has her own dance company, Namah, in Los Angeles. I saw Banafsheh perform when she had just begun her professional career in 1990 or 1991. It was so clear then that she would go far with her art—and she has. Take a look at this and come back, please.
I love the way she has combined the spiritual Iranian percussion instrument of Daf with her own interpretation of the spiritual dance, providing an excellent visual effect. Though by now she is an accomplished expert on the new brand of Persian dance she has developed in her repertoire, you can see here that as a choreographer, she can lead her dance company into more complicated Western routines, bordering ballet moves. I love watching her move, with such confidence and pure joy, accompanied by good musicians[2] and good dancers, creating an artistic and provocative total effect. If you want to see more, look here, here, and here. You can also go to her website for more information.
I hope that the weekend brings you rest and joy, and that you recreate yourselves successfully. I’m off to another weekend every moment of which is scheduled (yikes—couldn’t help it!). There will be a wedding, a book party, a lecture, two dinners, and two “labor-of-love” projects in my weekend. I’ll tell you all about them if they turn out report-worthy, as I always do. In the meantime, kiss, hug, hold, serenade, and confess your love to those you love! Those of you with less exciting lives, be cool and be kind to those around you! Your turn will come, too! Have a good weekend y’all.
[1] Who gave us years of joy in his Samad series on Iranian TV and cinema (actually, there is so much to be said about Parviz Sayyad and his comedy and serious works, and someday I will say them, but this post is not about him.)
[2] Pejman Haddadinia’s Zarbang
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7 comments:
Thank you for this. This was such a treat. I'm sure you'll be fabulous as always this weekend.
And thank you for coming, Serendip! I thought you might like this post! I was thinking this will be a tough one for me to beat for the coming weeks, as we have those videoclips which aren't always easy to find. Anyhow, perhaps I can think of something clever before next Friday! Thank you for your good wishes. I hope it's a very good weekend for you, too, my friend.
IT WAS AWSOMELY BEAUTIFUL, THANKS FOR EFFORT NAZY JAN
Khahesh mikonam Mehran Jan! Thanks for coming and for taking the time to look at my "treat" this week! It was a joy putting it together. I work on my Friday posts for several days, looking for entertaining material. It is a joy when I see others enjoy them, too. Be good and have a good weekend.
Wonderful! I watched all the videos, thanks for that :)
I think this was one of my favorite "end of the week" posts! Thank you for introducing us to Samad's daughter!
I understand about being flooded with ups and downs of life. I don't think it resembles being old if one feels overwhelmed with it. And the pic is really powerful here, some thing you like to watch, knowing the figure was down or will be, but up now and again.
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