11/09/2007

Hearts, Arms, and Eyes

Ballet Afsaneh dance Persian dances. Music: The Hunt, by Azam Ali from her Niaz Album.

It's Friday. My kids got dressed up in their nice clothes and went to a birthday party. Days ran one after another this week, and before I knew it, another Friday evening is here, when I catch my breath, relax, and write another Friday post. This was a good week. I made tangible progress at work, in my personal affairs, and in some of my relationships. With a reception and many meetings to start a new project at work, I talked entirely too much this week. I am so appreciating the silence of this cool and dark evening. I am a generally sociable and noisy individual. I talk a lot and laugh a lot. It may be a surprise to most people, then, to know how much I value my solitude and quiet. When it's quiet, I get to think and regroup. It took me years to learn this need in myself. Now that I know it, I exercise it frequently!

I leave you with a dance clip of Ballet Afsaneh. They are a local dance company, specializing in Persian, Central Asian, Tajik, Afghan, Uzbek, Indian, and Azerbaijani dances. Though they have some Iranian dancers in their company, their dancers are mostly Americans. They have won many perfoming arts prizes and are regarded as a respectable dance company. You can read more about them on their website. Though a bit blurry, I hope this video clip makes you happy and lets you forget some of your worries.

I wish you all a fabulous weekend. I hope your hours and days are filled with rays of light, winds of joy, and sounds of laughter. I hope you stay warm with the love of your friends and family. Return those phone calls, write those emails, send those photos, and visit the ones waiting to see you. Remember, at the end of the day, nobody really cares how many times you mopped your floors or how vigorously you vacuumed the carpets; they care whether your hands were wrapped around their shoulders, your voice soothed their souls, and your reassurances made them strong. Go get busy with the business of love, understanding, and peace. Please don't shout, don't hunk your horns, and don't frown. Open your hearts, your arms, and your eyes. You may feel, touch, and see things you hadn't before. You just might. And don't forget to pray for peace.

10 comments:

Marzieh said...

سلام

خوب. مثل همیشه نوشته های جمعه شما حال منو عوض کرد
..............
بهتون تبریک میگم
خداوند گاهی قدرتشو در کلمات
بندگانش نشون میده
ممنون

jeerjeerak said...

I'm with you in your prayers for peace, both in private and public dimensions.
Have a good weekend Nazy Jan.

Daisy said...

Good morning,

This post was consisted of three parts, all so different but so similar. I really enjoyed them all.

I didn't realize that how fast this week passed either. I don't know what happened to my days because I was too busy. Last night I did nothing but stayed home and relaxed. I agree with you solitude is good thing sometimes. It gives you time to think about your life, prioritize your goals and recharge you batteries.

And I was moved by the last part of this post. I want to send this section to all my friends and family (if that is ok with you of course). I'll cite it carefully so they know where to go to read more wonderful notes and life-learning advices.

World peace
Have a good weekend

Anonymous said...

Nazy jan
I wish a peaceful and enjoyable weekend for you, Don,t forget your dear friends in weekends :)
bayram

Siah said...

Nazy Jaan, what is the name of this type of dance? I always wonder what was our own original dance, do we even have something that can be called a national classical dance? I know we have kurdish and lezgi and esfahani dance but I was wondering if we have had a dance in shah's days that was considered our classical dance. I think your friends dance (meshkin ghalam) is more similar to Indian traditional dance

Nazy said...

Salam Marzieh Jan:

And you made me feel very good, too! You are such a generous and kind audience to my babblings, which come from my heart, no less! I hope you are having a fabulous weekend in Vancouver my friend.

Nazy said...

Jeer Jan:

Thank you. Tonight I was talking to my friend who has just returned from Tehran. I asked her about the general mood and whether Iranians in Iran are aware of the pending threats on Iran. She said everyone is more or less aware of the threats. Reading the news here is certinly scary and worrying. We must do our best to raise awareness here. Sweet Tameshk has been helping me put together a slide show about Iran (well, I have dumped the project on that courageous girl, to be more exact!). We hope to be able to share it with everyone sometime next week. Be good Jeer Jan.

Nazy said...

Dear Daisy:

Please share anything I have here! I keep a blog in English so that if and when people who don't speak Farsi are looking for information about Iran and Iranians and our lives, they have access to some viewpoints and facts which are different from what the media here presents these days. It is my sincere wish that our messages of hope and love and decency reach those who want to receive them. My Iranian audience have been my added bonus, my salvage from homesickness, and a source of pride and hope. Be happy Daisy Jan.

Nazy said...

Salam Bayram Jan: I never forget you on any day of the week! Thanks for coming along to the reception with me tonight. It was awesome and your quick help in identifying all the important people in the slideshow was superb. Be good Bayram.

Nazy said...

Siah Jan Salam:

This videoclip actually has a collection of different dances. The traditional Persian dance is called just that. There are other folkloric dances performed in the "Persian Dance" genre, each called by its region's name, such as Gilaki, Lori, Balooch, and Azari.

You are right. Moshkin Ghalam's dance is heavily influenced by Indian dance and Flamenco, in which he has been trained. Though he strongly believes that both Indian dances and the Flamenco have their roots in the Iranian dance, I wouldn't call his dances "traditional." I would call them "fusion" or "talfighi." Iranian dance, unfortunately, has not survived very well through history, and much of it has been forgotten. Moshkin Ghalam and other choreographers and dance experts believe that some of the original Iranian dance can be "remembered" by following Indian and Flamenco dance steps and re-tracing and re-generating what our dances really looked like thousands of years ago.

Though many Iranian dance artists are active in performing the traditional Iranian dance, surprisingly, it appears that dancers in Tajikistan might actually be better trained in our dances than we are.

I hope this has been a satisfactory reply. If not, I can forward links to websites of professionals who are active in the research. Take care and have a good weekend.