Iranian Performing Arts Inc. (IPA)
IPA is the join creation between the former director of Iran's national folkloric dance ensemble, Robert de Warren, and Iranian dance artist, Sheila Eghbali. The two began collaborating in 2012 for the first International Iranian Dance Conference. From there, they programmed and held three additional conferences through 2017. The initial attempt was to share resources, such as the knowledge of Mr. de Warren, to educate dancers and dance instructors about authentic forms of Iranian dance. With the inception of Iranian Performing Arts Inc. 501(c)(3) in 2015, the mission has expanded to continuing the research work of Mr. de Warren, which began in the 60s and 70s around Iran, and collecting and documenting the dances of Iran from local masters. This effort includes documenting music, meaning of dances and dance moves, and the cultural and spiritual traditions that surround various dances.
IPA has three elements through which it works toward its mission:
- To uncover the diverse cultures of Iran through dance and music, our research team interviews and videotapes local artists and residents.
- To preserve the diversity of dance and music, we motivate locals to preserve their own art, while doing our due diligence to translate our documented records and summarize them to share with scholars and the public. Much of our content is shared through our Patreon campaign, where users pay a monthly fee to have access to our instructional and informative videos.
- Celebrating the diverse cultures of Iran through dance and music is mostly done through performances and scholarly talks. We no longer accept invitations for performances, but are raising funds for future productions. However, we do accept invitations for scholarly talks by our Vice President, Robert de Warren, President, Sheila Eghbali, or our Chair of Archiving Committee and music composer, Parham Haghighi.
Our Board of directors include:
- Sheila Eghbali, President and Founder
- Robert de Warren, Vice President
- Mehdi Abedi, Chair of fundraising committee
- Parham Haghighi, Chair of Archiving Committee
IPA's advisory Board includes
- Jose Mateo, the director and choreographer of Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre and director of Dance for World Community
- Namus Zokhrabov, the former choreographer of Azerbaijan's State Dance Ensemble
- Indira Mehrpour, former dance artist of Iran's Mahalli Dancers
Want to Learn More?
Join our Patreon Campaign where, with a monthly membership contribution to our organization, you will receive videos about cultural elements, dances, and music of Iran. You can learn from the comfort of your own home, and inspire others, to also join us, and learn about Iran, and the beauty of its cultural diversity.