Becoming Music: Finding the True Soul of Music through melody, rhythm, and motion

Becoming Music: Finding the True Soul of Music through Melody, Rhythm, and Motion

A Music Week with Zuleikha, Srinivas Reddy & Sinan Arat
Week 4A, August 13th – 19th, 2023

“Every sacred scripture, holy picture or spoken word, produces the impression of its identity upon the mirror of the soul; but music stands before the soul without producing any impression of this objective world, in either name or form, thus preparing the soul to realize the Infinite.” – Hazrat Inayat Khan, The Mysticism of Music, Sound and Word

Zuleikha, Srinivas and Sinan are longtime students themselves, and teachers of the mysticism of sound, music and movement. 

During this week we will work with our bodies, our souls and instruments to realize the infinite. The daily programme will involve time together as a whole group, working with melody, meditation, and movement. Then there will be times that we divide into groups, to focus specifically on movement and sound with Zuleikha, ragas and poetry with Srinivas, and learning about breath and rhythm through the Ney with Sinan.

Zikr, Kirtan, live music and performance will form our evening programme.

This retreat is for everyone who has a relationship to music, professional or not, and who wants to deepen that relationship, especially as a way of answering the earth’s call for what is needed in our time.

Zuleikha: International performer through the art of Storydance and creator of TAKE A MINUTE® Self-Care works, Zuleikha inspires dynamic creativity and rejuvenation. As Innovator and educator, she shares the gift of movement medicine through simplicity in expression and feeling, to engage an open heart, and to live a life of well-being. Renowned for her Storydance performances, Rumi Concert collaborations and innovative teaching, Zuleikha is an award recipient for her humanitarian work promoting positive personal and social change.
“I was always trying to weave harmony through space with my body,” she says. Trained in music, movement and mysticism by Master teachers of eastern and western lineages, international Storydancer and educator, Zuleikha is an ambassador for Unity in artistic expression. Her formal education in contemporary and traditional dance and music gave her a strong foundation and understanding of the relationship between movement and music. She sought to create a feeling-based artistic dance practice. Zuleikha is the Founder/Director of the international non-profit, The Storydancer Project, which uses Transformative Self-Care Movement for positive change in marginalized communities from India to the U.S. and Navajo Nation. thestorydancerproject.org, www.zuleikha.com

Srinivas Reddy is a scholar, translator and musician. He studied classical South Asian languages and literature at UC Berkeley and currently teaches at Brown University and IIT Gandhinagar. Srinivas is also a concert sitarist who trained in the traditional guru-shishya parampara in the lineage of late maestro Pandit Nilkhil Banerjee. He spends his time performing, teaching and conducting research around the world. His latest book is Raya: Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagara (2020). http://www.sankalpana.org/

Sinan Arat is a ney (reedflute) player and singer. He was born in Erzincan (Turkey) and studied ney at the Classical Ottoman music conservatory in Izmir. He got his master’s degree at Codarts Rotterdam led by the legendary bansuri master Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia and ney master Kudsi Erguner. Since his meeting with the mystical flute ney, he has been reflecting his sound through various approaches that are coming from his regional Anatolian folk music, Ottoman and Indian Classical Music as well as fusions and experimental forms. He believes that music is an invisible bridge of a breath, where we all are linked and somehow creating a view of life and love in a genuine dimension. It’s a bridge through a stone to human, through the heart to the cosmos, through silence to the big bang, through multitude to the oneness. Besides his Sufi music performances, he also plays for film, theatre and documentary soundtracks. On television he was a guest performer at Vrij Geluiden, he performed with his instrument the ney at Podium Witteman, Big Music Quiz, Tijd voor Max, The Passion, Wereld Draait Door, NBE Nieuwjaarconcerts etc. www.facebook.com/dembedemm/