Sounds True: Insights at the Edge Banafsheh Sayyad: Being 100 Percent Present and 100 Percent Fully Gone
Apr 21, 2026
Banafsheh Sayyad, a master Iranian sacred dancer and founder of Dance of Oneness, blends Sufi and Persian movement with healing and devotion. She talks about whirling as spiritual practice. She explores discipline paired with surrender, embodied techniques for releasing grief and reclaiming sensuality, and movement as a form of resistance and luminous heart-centered presence.
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Dance As Response To War Grief
- Banafsheh watches the war in Iran with heartbreak yet holds hope the uprising will lead to positive change.
- She offers public movement sessions to help people release grief and open to finer energy to better contribute to outcomes.
Three Rivers Form One Modality
- Dance of Oneness integrates three streams: technique, wisdom teachings, and healing practices.
- Banafsheh combines Persian, Sufi whirling, flamenco, Tai Chi, Sufi/Taoist/divine feminine teachings, and Chinese medicine/acupuncture.
The Name Came From Whirling
- The name Dance of Oneness arrived to Banafsheh during whirling as direct guidance.
- She felt the name fit her multicultural life and the modality’s aim to unify diverse traditions into embodied oneness.
