Preservation
Preserving the cultures of Iran is a significant portion of the work in which we engage. We acheive this task by first and foremost, inspiring the local residents to learn their dances from the elders and generate groups that perform and share their cultural heritage at festivals around Iran. We have learned that preservation by those who understand the philosophy and spiritual aspect behind each dance and song is much more powerful than anything we could ever achieve. However, we do document as many dances and musical pieces we find, through interviews, video and audio recording, and translate and summarize them for research and production purposes.
Focusing on the Source
As part of our preservation work, we connect those traveling to Iran, with local artists who may perform at official events for the visitors. This promotes local preservation of the arts.
Documenting Findings
We translate our interviews and videos which we collect through out trips, generate summarized reports, and instructional videos, which will assist scholars, dancers, and choreographers in learning original forms of Iranian dance. The instructional videos are shared through our fundraising platform, Patreon.
How we got here?
We have several secondary sources, who have traveled or learned from primary sources in Iran. These include Mr. Robert de Warren, our VP, who lead Iran's national folkloric dance ensemble, the Mahalli Dancers, and Mr. Namus Zokhrabov, who choreographed dances for the State Dance Ensemble of Azerbaijan (whose work is based on a primary source in Tabriz, Iran). We recognize the information that is modifid in order to make artistic expressions and works ready for stage, thus while learning choreographies of our master instructors has been an incredible opportunity, we have decided to venture out to the primary sources, in the local areas, and dig up the dances, moves, and the meanings behind each. This we find, should be the base for teaching Iranian dances, while for the past 30+ years, choreographies have been the base for teaching the dances of Iran. The error in this approach is much like teaching ballet through the Nutcracker choreography. Many aspects are artistic expressions and if one does not understand the dance, one does not understand which part is an artistic expression, and which is an authentic part of the dance. So we strive for finding the original forms and stear away from much of our own original works, which included "classical/court dances of Iran" which are mostly artistic expressions based in dances of Azerbaijan.