Jeff Berman

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On Sunday, the Brooklyn Arts Council offers Brooklynites the opportunity to grab their neighbors’ hands and circle dance their hearts out.

The "Folk Feet: Circle ’Round Brooklyn" program includes a mixture of workshops that welcome audience participation, as well as solo performances by professional artists, including Bay Ridge dancer Yasser Darwish (pictured), who will demonstrate "tanoura," a concert dance version of Egyptian dervish spinning at 2 pm.

"[The Egyptian native] performs a secular form of Sufi dervish dance that could be performed at weddings and celebrations, but [his version] has no religious implications," explained BAC Folk Arts Director Kay Turner. "While the Sufis dance in monochromatic skirts, his skirt is very beautiful, multicolored, very beautiful."

Circle dance, a form common to different cultures around the globe, is distinguished by repetitive step patterns, handholds and group participation.

"Circle ’Round Brooklyn," which includes workshops featuring Swedish children’s dances, Sherpa dance from Himalayan Nepal and African-American ring-shout from the Gullah Islands, and much more, is the latest presentation from BAC’s three-year-old "Folk Feet" program.

"[It] reflects our increasing interest in the kinds of dance forms that bring people together in community life in Brooklyn," said Turner. "Circle dance is one of the oldest forms of communal dance, and it’s still actively performed in Brooklyn.

"While the Swedes are not here so much anymore, they still do a good bit of dancing in Bay Ridge," said Turner. "The Sherpas dance in Windsor Terrace and their Buddhist monastery here in [Vinegar Hill]. African-American ring-shout is done within different families and African-American communities in Brooklyn. Circle dance still occupies a central part in community identity."

"Folk Feet: Circle ’Round Brooklyn" will be held on Oct. 8 from 2 to 5 pm at the Tobacco Warehouse in Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park (New Dock Street at Water Street in DUMBO). The rain date is Oct. 15. This performance is free and open to the public. For more information, call (718) 625-0080 or visit www.brooklynartscouncil.org.

©2006 Community Newspaper Group