Dear Friends,
March is the month of new beginnings as we welcome Spring and Norouz, the Persian New Year. Consider making your own new beginnings this year, new experiences, new challenges, and new friends in the realm of dance, culture, and spirituality. Coming are many exciting lectures, dance performances and classes, and a retreat in Turkey to participate in. Look below for details.
Beauty, love, and romance is visible all year round and never is it more apparent as trees turn green and blossoms bloom. Would you be surprised to know that Valentine’s Day has an ancient Persian influence? Sepandārmazgān, the Persian festival of love, has customs that are celebrated today. According to Iranian scholar al-Biruni, it was a day when women rested and men had to bring them gifts. Listen online this Sunday Feb. 27 as special guest scholar Dr. Mehravar Sorush Kaboli and I explain what the festival represents and its legacy, as well as the mythological origins of the Goddess of Love. Look for details below.
Learn the essentials and experience of Sufi whirling with Dance of the Soul. This online introductory workshop Mar. 7 enables you to enter whirling meditation with training in breathwork, focus, balance, and more. I also have students in their 3rd month of beginning whirling training weekly this month with Dance and Whirling of the Timeless and an advanced class Persian Sufi whirling with Dance of the Divine Nature. My students have asked that I continue to review Persian classical or sacred dance technique and styles this month with Essentials of Persian Dance. Classes are online, available recorded, or with a San Jose, CA in-studio option. Visit my class page or Patreon page for more details on all classes.
Coming March 20, I am proud to announce that the Simorgh Dance Collective and I return to perform Persian folkloric dances at the 13th annual Houston Nowruz Festival with a star-studded cast! This performance has been long awaited for following the closures amid cautions of the pandemic. Seating is limited.
Make plans to join me in May, for Caravan of Mystics, a mystic Sufi music and dance retreat adjoining the beautiful Black Sea coast. This amazing three day retreat will feature internationally acclaimed artists, musicians, and scholars. Look for more details below.
Be sure to visit the Simorgh Dance Collective store for ethnic costumes, jewelry, and more. Your purchase helps support the Collective.
Finally, if you have an idea to host a workshop, performance, lecture, or retreat with me please visit my Offerings page and feel free to contact me.
With love,
Farima
Wherever you are, and whatever you do, be in love.
― Rumi
“I wish I could show you,
When you are lonely or in darkness,
The Astonishing Light
Of your own Being!”
― Hafez, The Divan