Dancing Rumi

“As an embodied mystic of the divine feminine, her presentations are not performances but transmissions which transform your vision of dance forever. Dancer and dance become one initiatory flame of grace.” – Andrew Harvey
In the filmIn the Fire of Grace, BanafshehSayyadinterprets five stages of the soul’s archetypal journey to union with the Beloved through movement.Banafsheh’s interpretation marries,as Rumi’s mystical vision does, the serene peace with the fierce gorgeous passion of the divine. She is accompanied by Andrew Harvey as the voice of Rumi, summoning her deeper into the flames of death and rebirth.Andrew Harvey is the renowned mystical scholar, Rumi translator, poet, spiritual teacher, writer of over 30 books, and architect of Sacred Activism. Harvey’s Rumi is a thunderous, poignant Shakespeare of the soul, catching one unaware and making retreat impossible. The dances are illumined by discussions exploring the urgency of Rumi’s message to our turbulent world and the devastating, glorious paradoxes of the mystical journey.
“One day in your wine-shop, I drank a little wine and I threw off the robe of my body and I knew drunk on you this universe is harmony … creation … destruction … I am dancing for them both”
Mowlana Jalalledin Rumi
“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
“In watching Banafsheh dance, I knew I was witnessing a master performer in action.”
Caroline Myss

Music by ZARBANG, Davoud Azad, Dr. L. Subramaniam, Pejman Hadadi and Babak Sharifi
Featuring calligraphy by Nasrollah Afjaie