Please join us in celebrating the Summer Solstice with NOoSPHERE Arts as they kick off their WE ARE NATURE: Rising and Falling annual rooftop series. Held in the spectacular, one-of-a-kind setting of wildflower meadows stretching across the roofs of an industrial plant against the iconic backdrop of the NYC skyline, the event will be centered around a Sufi opening ritual honoring nature’s cycles, performed by Whirling Dervish Farima Berenji. Farima—a Sufi Master and Magi from the bloodline of Iranian Zoroastrian Magi—and her sacred dancers will be accompanied by the klezmer music and Sephardic folk melodies of The Shul Band. The ceremony has been designed as a unique blend of Muslim and Jewish elements— epitomizing the possibility of interfaith collaboration. Join us at Sunset to mark this special occasion!

The main event will involve solo acts, duets and a whirling performance in which several participants— including Cyr wheelers—will interpret the movements of individual planets around a star. The show will also feature poetry readings and storytelling by Master Farima and be accompanied by the live music of the Shul Band. Following the whirlers’ performances, The Shul Band will continue playing against the darkening night sky.

CRS is one of the supporters of the event.

Tickets are available via Eventbrite:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rooftop-season-opening-event-an-ecstatic-solstice-celebration-tickets-640904210747

A Sema Gathering (free) and two Whirling workshops (Basic and advanced Whirling practices) will be offered on the day following the event (Sun, Jun 25: Beginner: 12-1:30 pm, Advanced: 2-3:30 pm).
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/soul-of-the-sema-whirling-workshops-tickets-638797419277

Farima Berenji is an internationally acclaimed dance artist, ethnologist, choreographer, instructor, and archaeologist specializing in ancient, sacred, classical, and folk dances spanning the millenniums of Persian civilization, the Silk Road, and the Near East.
http://farimadance.com/

The Shul Band, led by Adam Feder, plays music rooted in Jewish folk music but drawing on the musical wellsprings of New York City and of the whole world. It is equally prayerful and raucous, meditative and joyful. The band has performed at major venues such as Carnegie Hall.
https://www.theshulband.com/

This is the fourth iteration of the NOoSPHERE Art’s annual rooftop series. Each season’s theme references an aspect of systems thinking, an approach to environmental sustainability spearheaded by leading thinker Fritjof Capra, a longtime NOoSPHERE Arts collaborator. This view considers all the major problems of our time—including energy, economics, climate change, and inequality—as interconnected and interdependent. In 2023, the summer series explores the theme of Nature’s Cycles. A cycle is an interval of time during which a characteristic event occurs, often repeated regularly or in a sequence of events. There are cycles in everything—seasons, circadian rhythms, cellular life, planetary systems, politics, and economics—and cycles in one realm affect cycles in others. Thinking about cycles can help us to discern structure, order, and patterns in the world around us, and to realize that everything in life will ebb and flow—an encouraging thought in times of darkness.

NOoSPHERE Arts is a 501c3 organization and cultural center led by a team of international creatives whose backgrounds blend the arts and sciences. Its freewheeling, multidisciplinary approach engages diverse audiences and builds community through a range of vibrant public events in its indoor-outdoor home in Brooklyn, NYC. The only multidisciplinary arts center in the Greenpoint neighborhood, it is a welcoming platform where resident and migrant artists alike connect with locals. Uniting music, dance, visual arts, theater, film, poetry & prose, its collaborative productions at the nexus of art and eco-awareness harness the power of art to drive action towards green living, fair play, and oneness.
https://www.noosphere-arts.nyc/