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Team

Tony Khalife

Musician

Kelebek Wilcox

Assistant

Carlos Leaño

Web Developer

Sheri Silva

Assistant

Katy Tymoshchuk

Designer

Marlene Nichols

Writer

AnaStacia White

Adviser

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© 2023 Dance of Oneness

AnaStacia White

Adviser, Chinese Mantic Arts Practitioner

Two fundamental conditions seem to have developed in all ancient cultures – the interplay of practical “survival techniques“ and elaborate “shamanic“ rituals. These two forces created a context for individuals and cultures to evolve. In China this interplay led to the emergence of the Mantic Arts which include medicine, astrology, divination and Feng Shui.
AnaStacia White’s life has been a journey of studying and teaching these magical, yet practical sciences. Additionally, she has embodied practices of dance, yoga and Qi Gong to more consciously navigate the sacred river of life. She has spent decades assisting people to heal and self cultivate via her Chinese medical practice and Zi Wei astrological readings. She has trained Western medical doctors and holistic health practitioners the application of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Chinese Wisdom helping to integrate more amalgamted and holistic practices in modern medical systems. AnaStacia has been studying with Banafsheh since 2018 and has began advising her and the Dance of Oneness Team since 2020. Check out her website.

Tony Khalife

Vocalist, Multi-instrumentalist
Born in Beirut, Lebanon, Tony is a musician, singer, songwriter, composer, yogi, artist, teacher, child-soldier, and messenger of love and peace. His mission is to raise the world’s vibration through music. Blending a lifelong search for musical truth into many forms of world music, Tony weaves a seamless vibrational flow in which the drone and ragas of Indian music and the resonance of Sufi dances meet Western harmonies. A Vedic priest, Tony is a graduate of the Guitar Institute in Los Angeles and has studied Tabla with great Ustad Zakir Hussain. Since 2007, Tony has graced Dance of Oneness workshops, retreats and classes with his inspiring music and beautiful presence, singing, playing guitar and drums. Tony and Banafsheh’s deep attunement to oneanother creates a magical and nourishing field for students. Tony has performed numerous times with Banafsheh and NAMAH in the US and Canada. Tony has countless recordings that you can check out on his website.

Kelebek Wilcox

Banafsheh’s Assistant

Kelebek was drawn to Dance of Oneness in December 2019. That winter, Banafsheh held a retreat in the chilly Catskills of New York, highlighting the connections between Sufi Whirling, Tibetan Buddhism and Quantum Physics. Kelebek has great curiosity for all three of these topics and so journeyed from the west coast to attend.  Already a student of dharma and science, she became hooked by whirling, which she considers medicine for the body and soul.

Kelebek’s background is diverse. She studied math and computer science, but landed in a delightful career of 3D animation and visual effects — where art and math come together beautifully. Creative expression became a passion and a necessity for her. She has also studied silversmithing, creating a signature style of cuff bracelets that she custom designs for each client and forges herself.  You can find more about her work and passions at www.KelebekDesigns.com.

Carlos Leaño

Web Developer
Carlos is our IT guy to go, he currently oversees the website, he’s a Programmer & Web Developer from Cartagena, Colombia and he’s also part of our development team, he likes to learn new things, hanging out with friends, he speaks English and Portuguese, when not working with us he likes to watch Japanese Animation, play videogames or read a good book.

Sheri Silva

Banafsheh’s Assistant in Live Sessions
Yoga Teacher, Thai Bodyworker, Sacred Space Coach
Sheri has assisted Banafsheh in Dance of Oneness workshops around the US since 2012. She is a master at holding a safe container and creating sacred space. Sheri and Banafsheh are deeply attuned to one another and this deep resonance is felt by the students as a source of nourishment. Sheri brings over 23 years of experience in teaching to the sessions. She guides from the wisdom of leaning into the body as a revelatory process and evolutionary practice. Her continual exploration of sacred embodiment is woven with extensive study in Yoga, Dance, Thai Bodywork, Sacred Space and deep feminine guidance. Sheri’s approach is to break through the superficial layers of old habits to cultivate the aliveness we all crave. Visit Sheri’s website for more information on her work.

Marlene Nichols

Writer, Editor, Creative Consultant
Marlene Nichols tells stories on stage and on the page. Raised by a German mother in the American South, it proved to be a Tennessee Williams meets the Brothers Grimm kind of childhood. An international performing artist, her original plays and solo shows have appeared at such venues as REDCAT (Los Angeles), the L.A. Women’s Theater Festival, Stage Left Studio (NYC), American Theater of Harlem (NYC), and on a sailing ship in the Arctic Circle. She holds an MFA from the CalArts where she took a class in the Sama with Banafsheh and has danced with her ever since. As a story producer she has written for Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project, AOL studios and the Discovery Channel. She is currently a producer for Strong Words Live, a monthly storytelling show in Los Angeles that combines spoken work, music and art. One of her passions is Write Party, a workshop she developed for writers who aren’t writing where they can have a date with their muse and tell their inner critic to shut up! Marlene works closely with Banafsheh in writing the content for the website.

Dance of Oneness® is the dance I had been waiting to do all my life. From a young age I had danced, read watched and followed Isadora Duncan, Martha Graham, Joffery Ballet, Margie Gillis, Gabriel Roth and many more than I can name that moved in a way that spoke to me. Dance of Oneness® is the culmination of all that I had been drawn to in the other dance forms which seemed to be missing the main ingredient. Banafsheh has found the missing thread which is the opening to the Beloved, to truly give yourself in movement to the Divine energy that resides and moves through all of us from the Earth and the Heavens. I felt that for the first time in our dancing. It also reintroduced me to my own body, allowed me to accept my imperfections and for the first time in years swim naked in the ocean. All of this and more.

Janet Sawatsky

Canada

Transformative! Banafsheh skillfully takes us step by step to an experience of dance that brings me deeper into my body, to peace, feeling grounded and open to beauty and to love. Most importantly for me, the process brought me to experience a lovingness toward myself. I appreciate her presence of gentleness and fierce passion, and I’m inspired to bring my best self into my world.

Mary Regis

USA

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