Sama: Whirling Dance of the Heart
What if the path to inner peace isn’t about resisting, but about discovering your center within the movement? Sama: Whirling Dance of the Heart A Sacred Whirling Workshop with Banafsheh Sayyad Saturday, July 25, 2026 | 2:00 – 4:00 PM Registration Require: https://iacommunitycenter.networkforgood.com/events/102910-sama-whirling-dance-of-the-heart-workshop-with-banafsheh-sayyad Experience the profound practice of Sama (Sufi whirling) with Banafsheh Sayyad—Founder of Dance of Oneness®, Spiritual Embodiment Teacher, Award-Winning Author, and Sacred Dancer. In this transformative workshop, you’ll discover whirling as an ancient spiritual practice and moving meditation rooted in Sufi mysticism. For centuries, whirling has been used as a pathway to transcend the limitations of the mind, open the heart, and experience a deeper connection with the Divine. Through conscious movement, breath, and surrender, you’ll learn to quiet inner noise, cultivate presence, and access the stillness at your center—helping you remain grounded, resilient, and connected no matter what life brings. Drawing on ancient Sufi wisdom and her pioneering feminine approach to sacred dance, Banafsheh creates a welcoming space where anyone—whether a complete beginner or an experienced practitioner—can experience the healing power of conscious movement. Modern science tells us that life itself begins in the spin—from atoms to galaxies. Ancient mystics understood this same truth through sacred movement. As you learn to whirl, you’ll begin to align with this universal rhythm, cultivating a deeper sense of balance, coherence, presence, and trust. During this experiential workshop, you will: Learn the foundations of authentic Sama (Sufi whirling) Experience meditation through movement Develop greater emotional resilience and nervous system regulation Build the capacity to stay calm and centered during life’s challenges Increase clarity, intuition, and inner trust Cultivate joy, freedom, and a profound sense of connection Discover a spiritual practice you can return to again and again Banafsheh’s renowned teaching method is designed to help participants whirl comfortably, making this transformative practice accessible and enjoyable for all levels. You will always be encouraged to move at your own pace, honoring your body’s unique experience. Come prepared to move, breathe, release, and reconnect with the still point within yourself. You’ll leave feeling grounded, renewed, and inspired—with practical tools for living with greater grace, resilience, and presence long after the workshop ends. Preparation Avoid eating for one hour before the workshop, or eat only lightly if needed. Bring a water bottle. Bring socks or soft-soled dance shoes (recommended: Capezio or SoDanca). Bring a yoga mat and a meditation cushion. Instruction will be offered in English, with Persian translation available if needed.
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Banafsheh - Dance of OnenessEvent MemberIranian-born master dance artist and transformational teacher, Banafsheh communicates the universal message of Sufi mysticism and Divine Feminine wisdom in a passionate yet serenely meditative way. Her dance is an interplay between trance and directed movement, precise yet abandoned and unrestrained. Her explosive yet fluid movement is sensual and ritualistic, uniting the feminine and masculine energies, body and soul, light and dark in a marriage of opposites. She invokes the ancient roots of dance as devotion, prayer and adoration while blazing an original trail in contemporary dance with her masterly fusion of high level dance technique and spirituality.
Her mesmerizing offering of the timeless Divine Feminine inside a contemporary gypsy dervish beckons all to engage, serve, exalt and honor our sexuality as sacred. She is one of the few bearers of authentic Persian dance in the world, an innovator of Sufi dance previously only performed by men and a pioneer in contemporary Persian dance, all of which characterize the form she has created called Dance of Oneness® geared towards empowering women and men through sacred embodiment.
Internationally known for her innovative movement vocabulary and high artistic and educational standards, she draws from her extensive background in Sufism, Persian dance and ritual, Tai Chi and flamenco to present a new form, rooted in tradition yet universal.
Banafsheh’s movement is comprised in part by the Persian alphabet translated into gestures and movement, which when put together dances out words and poetic stanzas, mostly taken from the works of the great mystic poet, Rumi, whom she has studied extensively, resonating with his fierce yet gentle essence that beckons each and everyone to break through conformity and limitation to find their individual glory.
Banafsheh comes from a long lineage of pioneering performing artists. Her father, the legendary Iranian filmmaker, theater director and actor, Parviz Sayyad, hailed as the Charlie Chaplin of Iran, is the most famous Iranian of his time. Banafsheh is a recipient of the prestigious James Irvine Foundation grant in Dance. She holds an MFA in Dance from UCLA where she taught 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. Also an acupuncturist, she draws from the Taoist view of the internal functioning of the body to uncover the healing, rejuvenating aspects of movement. Banafsheh’s solo and ensemble work with her dance company, NAMAH has been presented extensively in festivals and by dance presenters in North America, Europe and Australia where she has gained tremendous audience and critical acclaim. She recently performed at the closing night of the Festival of Sacred Arts in Madrid at Teatros del Canal. Her 2011 dance film In the Fire of Grace with author and scholar, Andrew Harvey traces Rumi’s journey of the Soul in dance.
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