Films
In The Fire of Grace
Dancing Rumi’s Journey of the Soul
A DVD of Dance and Passion
Banafsheh Sayyad and
Andrew Harvey
Banafsheh Sayyad has blazed an unique trail in contemporary dance. Born in Iran, her electrifying and wholly original dance style fuses together Flamenco, Tai Chi, Gurdjieff Movements and the sensuous ecstasy of Persian Dance with the austere rigor of Dervish whirling. “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 In the Fire of Grace, Banafsheh interprets five stages of the soul.s archetypal journey to union with the Beloved in movement that 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.
Music by ZARBANG, Davoud Azad, Dr. L. Subramaniam, Pejman Hadadi and Babak Sharifi Special Feature: Interview with Andrew Harvey and Banafsheh Sayyad Subtitles: Persian and Spanish Length: Feature - 45 minutes, Interview - 25 minutes Available online at www.namah.net
Click here for the interview as seen in July/August LA Yoga
"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
"From the very beginning of (Banafsheh)’s performance, I realized that we are faced with something entirely different and distinctive from what has commonly been called Persian Dance. Banafsheh’s dance was not only a highly artistic and virtuosic work both in terms of choreography and execution, but also for the first time I was witnessing a dance that one could call contemporary or modern Persian Dance – a dance with its own artistic language"
Renowned Critic, Shokooh Mirzadegi, A Woman's View
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 Jalleldin Rumi
Los Angeles Times
"In watching Banafsheh dance, I knew I was witnessing a master performer in action."
Caroline Myss
"From the very beginning of (Banafsheh)’s performance, I realized that we are faced with something entirely different and distinctive from what has commonly been called Persian Dance. Banafsheh’s dance was not only a highly artistic and virtuosic work both in terms of choreography and execution, but also for the first time I was witnessing a dance that one could call contemporary or modern Persian Dance – a dance with its own artistic language"
Renowned Critic, Shokooh Mirzadegi, A Woman's View
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 Jalleldin Rumi
PRESS Kit
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Marion Woodman: Dancing In The Flames
"Kali, the goddess of life and death, of creation and destruction, is the most revered Hindu goddess, beloved in India. But our country hasn’t dealt with Kali at all because we don’t like to think that death is part of life even though we’ve just finished with winter! I mean, if we gave any thought to it at all, we'd know that death leads to new life. I think we have to learn to accept mystery, to accept that the Divine is mysterious and that if we think we know everything, we are grossly deceived." - Marion Woodman
Marion Woodman: Dancing in the Flames is a brilliant and intimate documentary into the life of Jungian Analyst, Marion Woodman who is known for her ground breaking work as a teacher and author on feminine psychology, and addiction. By integrating the animation of Academy Award winner Faith Hubley, we are taken into a metaphoric representation of the unconscious imagery that Marion discusses so passionately, and under the direction of Adam Greydon Reid, the film’s 83 minutes captivates the viewer’s attention into one person's journey intMarion Woodmano the soul.
The film's warning in Marion’s own words are, "Most thinking people realize that we have come to the end of a paradigm that is not only not serving us, but is destroying us. The culture is collapsing and only a melding of both masculine and feminine energies , integrating body and soul, can halt the current social and environmental devastation."
The film invites us to examine our own lives, as the brilliant mystic and author Andrew Harvey interviews Marion as she explains the mysteries of her soul’s journey and reveals a series of psychological ‘deaths’ and ‘rebirths’ that have formed the consciousness into which she has evolved. From her battle with anorexia, to her revelatory experiences in India, to her ever-evolving marriage, to her dance with cancer, Marion has 'died into life' and, thus, is a perfect teacher and midwife for this critical period in our history. Her inner and outer lives combine to communicate a core truth of what it is to be human.
The film presents a philosophy of dynamic opposites, the bridging of seeming contradictions. Life and death, love and grief, courage and submission are not at loggerheads for her—they’re part of a harmonious whole. By embracing these opposites we come into the totality of human experience.
For anyone who is navigating the turbulent waters of the soul's journey and looking for the larger meaning of what it is to be human in a paradoxical world, this documentary is a must see as we witness Marion Woodman so articulately sharing her own journey into soul.
Marion Woodman is a writer, international teacher, workshop leader, and Jungian analyst. With over half a million books in print, she is one of the most widely read authors on analytical and feminine psychology of our time. A graduate of the C. G. Jung Institute of Zurich, Ms. Woodman is the author of Addiction to Perfection, The Owl Was a Baker's Daughter, The Pregnant Virgin, The Ravaged Bridegroom, and is co-author of Coming Home to Myself (with Jill Mellick), The Maiden King (with Robert Bly) and Dancing in the Flames (with Elinor Dickson).
-- review from Alternatives Magazine, Oregon
Purchase DVD here