Namah, in the ancient language of Avesta means reverence and greeting. Since 1994 the non-profit company has created an exciting body of work, igniting rigorous dance technique with powerful ancient mysticism. Led by dancer/choreographer Banafsheh Sayyad, a pioneer in Contemporary Persian Dance, Namah has toured annually throughout North America and Europe from 2003-2007 and recently performed in Australia and New Zealand.
Described as “the perfect way to open ritual aspects of Persian dance to a wider audience while preserving the sense of participating in something sacred†(LA Weekly), the company has become internationally known for its innovative movement vocabulary and high artistic and educational standards. Banafsheh Sayyad, an MFA graduate in Dance from UCLA established Namah with the aim to express the ancient within the contemporary and the sacred within dance—finding a language that would communicate the mystical Persian tradition to all regardless of cultural background. In 1998, Pejman Hadadi, the virtuoso Persian percussionist and two-time recipient of the Durfee Foundation Master Musician Fellowship Award became the resident composer of Namah. Since then, Sayyad and Hadadi have created a number of dance and percussion duets as well as ensemble pieces featuring other accomplished performers including Hadadi’s highly acclaimed ensemble, Zarbang.
Namah’s extensive community outreach program offers classes and workshops for adults and children in Persian Dance and Music. Banafsheh Sayyad teaches a very popular dance workshop featuring live percussion called Trance Dance and Drum Ritual drawing from ancient and mystical Persian movement and rhythm. This workshop works very well in conjunction with Namah concerts, to be presented the day after the performance. The artists also engage in Lecture Demonstrations on Persian Dance, Music, Mysticism and Philosophy.
In calling ourselves NAMAH, we revere paradox - the paradox of navigating in an unseen world, of manifesting the thread of infinity, which runs through a finite fleeting body, and its inverse… of uncovering the fact of structure and order emergent within ecstatic, limitless states.
Fiercely delicate our movements and sounds coded with the tradition of a distant yet palpable land vibrate, contort, flow and traverse boundaries of cultural specificity to give homage to vastness. With our learning and our passion we come to greet the unknown
