Featured Event:
Niyaz
The Fourth Light Project
Concert
Wednesday
April 11, 2018
8 p.m.
Williams Center for the Arts
317 Hamilton Street (at High Street)
College Hill, Easton, PA
A heady blend of acoustic and electronic, East and West, poetry and politics, Niyaz’s richly textured arrangements, sweeping choruses, and velvety vocals—courtesy of front woman Azam Ali—take inspiration from Sufi poetry, Middle Eastern folk music, and the musicians’ experiences as 21st-century global citizens. It’s “Los Angeles meets New Delhi meets Tehran,” notes NPR, yet The Fourth Light Project is a world unto itself—a modern-day global trance experience, featuring one of the first female whirling dervishes and hypnotic body-mapping projections that respond to sound and movement in real time.
Tickets available at the Williams Center for the Arts.
Residency Activities
Tuesday
April 10, 2018
Noon
Skillman Library, Gendebien Room
“Feminism in the East”
Featuring guest speakers
Azam Ali and Loga Torkian of Niyaz
Moderated by Professor Tara Gilligan (Women’s and Gender Studies, Lafayette College)
A discussion of gender inequality and the growing feminist movement in the East, exploring the gulf between the Western and Eastern definitions of female liberation when examined within the context of history, geography, and cultural traditions; and illuminating the contributions of women who have helped reshape their roles in a modern Eastern society.
Lunch will be provided while supplies last.
Admission is free.
Tuesday
April 10, 2018
3 p.m.
Williams Center Gallery
317 Hamilton Street (at High Street)
College Hill, Easton, PA
Facebook Live Interview
With Azam Ali and Loga Torkian of Niyaz
Kamini Masood ’19 poses your questions to the musicians. Watch on the Lafayette College Facebook page or join us in person in the art gallery. Admission is free.
Tuesday
April 10, 2018
4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Studio Theater
248 North 3rd Street
Downtown Williams Arts Campus, Easton, PA
Sufi Whirling Meditation Workshop
Sufi whirling meditation or sema is a fusion of mystic audition, sacred music, poetry, and movement. It is a powerful, challenging, and ecstatic meditation based on the practices of Rumi, the Mevlevi Whirling Dervishes, and beyond. The future is ancient. Rememberance is a practice. Come with passion, patience, loose clothing, good socks, and a bottle of water. Eat lightly beforehand.
Tawhida Tanya Evanson has over 15 years of study under Turkish Rifa’i Marufi Sheikh Sherif Baba Çatalkaya and Canadian whirling teacher/semazenbashi Raqib Brian Burke. She has performed and taught across Europe, Turkey, Japan, Canada and the U.S. as part of the Vancouver Rumi Society, Rumi Canada and music groups Mercan Dede (Turkey) and Niyaz (Iran-US). She is also a poet and producer.
Space is limited. The event is free, but participants must sign up with Joyce Wallace at the Williams Center for the Arts, at wallacej@lafayette.edu or 610-330-5010.
Wednesday
April 11, 2018
7 p.m.
Williams Center for the Arts, Room 108
317 Hamilton Street (at High Street)
College Hill, Easton, PA
Pre-concert Talk
With Loga Torkian of Niyaz
Loga Torkian reveals Niyaz’s influences and inspiration. Join us before the concert begins at 8 p.m. for an enhanced view of the performance.
Admission is free.