Afshin Derakh'shesh
14:30 - 15:00 (GMT+1) / 17:00 - 17:30 (GMT+3:30)
Dancing Resistance: Pioneers of New Dance in Iran
BIOGRAPHY
Afshin Derakh’shesh is an Iranian dancer, performer and dance scholar based in Iran. With a BS in Industrial Engineering. Currently, he is a member of Iran Dance Center, a virtual dance center that was awarded the Dance in the Public Sphere Award by the DSA(2023), he has also moderated two roundtable sessions on Ambiguities of Dance Terminology for DCI. He was both a performing member and the planning manager of Dastgam, which placed first in Les Fêtes de la Vigne de Dijon(France 2016). He is researching and writing the book Pioneers of New Dance in Iran.
ABSTRACT
Since dance, a taboo subject, has suffered severe restrictions due to religious and societal beliefs in Iran, it is often looked upon unkindly, resulting in a lack of attention. Iranian Dances history has been largly lost and despite being a strong cultural component in Iranian
society, its growth has been stymied and it has rarely been the subject of scholarly research.
This was particularly true in Iran during the era of Innovation (after the constitutional revolution) despite the presence of pioneer “New” dancers in this period. These individuals created various styles of New Dance through changing movement forms and resisting restrictive societal conditions: these dancers offered dance classes and performed on stage and public spaces despite varied restrictions. With the prohibition of dance after the 1979 revolution, these pioneers became a historically missed link.
This prompted me to research dancers I consider the pioneers of New Dance in Iran spanning the time period 1906 to 1953. Today’s presentation is based on the research for my book project which includes structural, sociological, and statistical analyses, as well as the review of selected dancers, dance performances and locations during this period.
Part of decolonisation is understanding and recognizing local history and predecessors, so it
is vital to identify the pioneers of New Dance in Iran and analyze their work from various aspects, considering their work has remained undocumented.