Ballet Afsaneh: Wind & Water, Ethno-Contemporary Dance - Persian roots

Title: Wind & Water (excerpts)
Contemporary Persian dance and music, based on a poem by Sohrab Sepehri.
Created and performed during the project
"Encounters: New Moon on the Silk Road"
Produced by Afsaneh Art & Culture Society - Ballet Afsaneh in San Francisco - 2010
Dance: Ballet Afsaneh
Mariam Gaibova, Miriam Peretz, Hannah Romanowsky, Wan-Chao Chang, Kristen Sague, Emelie Mahdavian
Music: Zaryab Ensemble
Composer & santur - Neema Hekmat, Moses Sedler - cello, Pourya Khademi - violin, Pedram Heydari - kamanche, Fares Hedayati - percussion & recitation, Sonja Drakulich - lead vocals, Bon Singer - vocals & choral arrangements, Jeannette Ferber - vocals, Salar Nader - tabla
Sharlyn Sawyer - choreography/arrangements/recitation
More about the work: Inspired by water, and our collective global stewardship of the source of all life.
Wind -
This section of the piece is inspired by the legendary Central Asian desert, the Taklamakan. Relentless and fierce, many stories tell of travelers lured to their deaths by spirit voices screaming in the dry winds of its storms. The polyphonic vocals opening this section are in Bulgarian, Vetar Vee - "The wind is blowing...."
Water -
"Ab Ra Gel Nakonim - Don't Muddy the Water", a composition by Neema Hekmat with lyrics by beloved contemporary Iranian poet Sohrab Seperhi, describing the beauty of nature's clear streams and the yearning for a simple mindful life.