Kismet قسمت Transforming Fate to Destiny

Date: March 19, 8 pm (7 pm first come, first served artist talk); March 20, 5:30 pm (4:30 pm first come, first served artist talk)
Price: $30 regular, $27 Friends, $22.50 students and seniors
Includes same-day Museum admission and artist talk

A co-presentation of two new dance works by Sashar Zarif Dance Theatre that help us observe Nowruz and the Spring Equinox as a celebration of renewal through love, acceptance and surrender. In the spirit of the light we carry within, to illuminate and learn from our dark nights, and embrace our bright days.

Welcoming the Spring season and the beginning of a New Year, Kismet قسمت is presented in Zarif’s contemporary reimagining of Mugham that integrates dance, music, and storytelling, which are in turn, inspired and informed by the Sufi and Shamanic rituals of nomadic Islamic societies. In it, words communicate the intellectual, music transmits the emotional, and dance conveys the physical experience. These influences on the work are deeply rooted in Sashar Zarif’s nomadic ancestry.

Each performance will be preceded by a short talk in the Bellerive Room (limited spots available: first come, first served) with the choreographer and performer, Sashar Zarif  (included with ticket purchase).

March 19

• Artist Talk (Bellerive Room): 7–7:30 pm (limited spots available: first come, first served. Tickets will be made available 1 hour before the talk. Performance ticket must be presented to redeem artist talk ticket)
• Performance: 8 pm

March 20

• Artist Talk (Bellerive Room): 4:30–5 pm (limited spots available: first come first served. Tickets will be made available 1 hour before the talk. Performance ticket must be presented to redeem artist talk ticket)
• Performance: 5:30 pm

Artist Bio

Sashar Zarif is an internationally renowned performing artist, educator, and researcher. For the last three decades Zarif and his Dance Theatre have toured across forty countries, promoting cultural dialogue through intensive fieldwork, residencies, performances, and creative collaborations. His award-winning, multi-disciplinary dance projects are steeped in the artistry and history of traditional, ritualistic, and contemporary dance and music of the Central Asian, Middle Eastern and North African regions, focusing on the Sufi and Shamanic practices within the Islamic societies, and the diverse world we live in.

Zarif’s artistic practice, Living Stories / Moving Memories explores the physical, mental and emotional aspects of memory. This practice is not only a rite of remembrance but it is an act of investigation/inquiry into self, environment and beyond in order to facilitate a genuine transformation. Sashar Zarif Dance Theatre's mandate is inspired by its commitment to bring awareness to our humanness.

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