Editor’s note:

For many months, I “wooed” Iris to receive this wonderful article, and behold, by mere coincidence, we are in mid-January 2026 when the awakening of the Iranian people inspires amazement and great hope for change throughout the world. It remains to be seen what will change by the time the article is published. All of us wish freedom for the Iranian people and for the entire world to be set free from the tyranny of fundamentalist religion. Time will tell.

 Translation: Jan Jackson

Persian dance has a long, ancient history and a fascinating and magical journey through time. Its roots are planted in the days of the Persian Empire, where it prospered and flourished. Historical finds – murals, reliefs, pottery, and miniatures – testify to the important place that dance occupied as an integral part of royal courts, culture, and public life. Dance served as a means of connecting man with nature and the higher powers, as well as the glorification of the beauty of the dancing woman.

The dance was mainly performed by women; the men’s dance was more like acrobatics. The women’s dance expressed values ​​of harmony, flow, femininity, and nobility. The Persian Zoroastrian religion saw the dancing body as an instrument of spiritual significance that served as a liaison between spirit and matter.

One of the most prominent characteristics of Persian dance is upper body movement: hand gestures, neck, head, and chest. Hand gestures are not just an ornament to the dance, but a whole system of deep meanings and symbols. The hands tell a story, and the body listens.

Persian dance is also deeply connected to the magnificent Persian poetry and music; it draws inspiration from the writings of Hafez (one of the greatest Persian poets) and Rumi Jalal al-Adin (a mystic poet who explored the power of dance as spiritual transcendence). Persian dance is not externally virtuosic but is driven by inner experience, breathing, and deep inner emotion.

Persian dance stands as a separate branch of Silk Road dances (dance traditions transmitted along the network of trade routes between China, Central Asia, Persia, India, and the Middle East) and has a significant place and enormous influence on these dances. In later periods, following religious and political changes, Persian dance underwent various restrictions and moved to private spaces, in courtyards of homes, and at social and feminine gatherings. Women and men gathered to dance together around events and ceremonies, around the cycle of the year and the cycles of nature. Folk dance developed in various villages and cities, only later coming to the forefront.

About 22 different styles of Persian dance have developed. Each province in Iran has developed its own unique dance style, with different accents, different rhythms, and a unique style of clothing.

Among the most notable are:

Bandari dance, performed in the Gondar region, along the seashore. An energetic, ecstatic dance characterized by rapid head movements, tossing hair, shaking shoulders, and hands. This dance was greatly influenced by African dance due to slaves who came to the region from Africa. It is danced by both women and men, but in a different manner.

The Gilaki dance in the Gilan region. It is characterized by spectacular and colorful traditional clothing and is danced by women and men, sometimes accompanied by headscarves.

Lustran dance developed on the border of Kurdistan, very reminiscent of debka dances. Men danced sword and stick dances accompanied by special, rhythmic and exciting drumming.

The Qashqai style is danced in southern Iran, a group dance – women and men together. It is a tribal dance, danced in a circle accompanied by holding hands, light jumps, and uniform rhythmic steps, and reflects a connection to the earth.

The Sufi dance (from the border with Turkey) – the Whirling. It also originated in Iran. The dancers maintain an internal axis and move in spiral turns, the right hand raised to the sky and the left hand towards the ground. Rumi, who saw dance as a spiritual work, was born in Iran and in his later years moved to Turkey, where he died. His grave is still used today for pilgrimage and for holding Whirling dance ceremonies.

Persian dance has known days of flourishing alongside periods of oppression and concealment

During the Shah’s reign, before the Islamic Revolution in Iran, it was at its peak. The Shah was a lover of dance and invested many resources in cultivating culture and dance. At that time, the “Iranian Representative Dance Troupe” included 32 male and female dancers, and became famous throughout the world, performing in Europe and throughout the United States. Many choreographers from the Western world, such as Martha Graham, came to Iran to draw inspiration from the dancers in the company.

During the Shah’s reign, Persian dance was influenced by the Western world, and a new, modern style, “Baba Karam,” began to develop in the city of Tehran. This style is reminiscent of the Western cabaret style, a sexy, feminine, and daring dance style. Danced by men and women together, the women wear tight black pants and a man’s shirt and sometimes dress up as men. It is a dance style that combines pelvic movements, hands, shoulders, facial expressions, and acting. The best dancers in this style are even able to dance with their eyebrows to the rhythm of the music.

With the takeover of the extremist Muslim government in Iran, the “rule of the Ayatollahs,” the golden age of Persian dance ended. The Representative Dance Troupe was disbanded, all videos of the performances were deleted from the internet, dancers and dance teachers were hanged, exiled from Iran, or forced to sign that they would no longer teach or perform. This cruel and extreme regime even banned all women from dancing in any public space.

My personal journey into Persian dance began in my childhood, when I absorbed Persian music and dance through family gatherings. In my family, there were musicians and dancers who worked in the artists’ city of Shiraz. The music, the dancing, and the happy and special atmosphere of “togetherness” enchanted me. Only later in my life as a dancer in Israel did I return “home” to Persian dance as part of my identity journey as an Iranian-Jewish-Israeli woman.

I feel an artistic and personal obligation to revive Persian dance, and it is precisely here, in Israel, that it takes on additional meaning. Dance becomes a cultural bridge, between past and present, between nations and people. It is a great privilege for me to preserve a glorious and rich tradition and culture here in this country.

I have been researching Persian dance for 20 years. I was privileged to learn from the best teachers in the field in the world and even from one of the dancers and teachers who danced in Iran’s Representative Troupe – Shazi Shahradaz, a dancer and teacher who was smuggled out of Iran at the outbreak of the revolution and established an academy for Persian dance in San Francisco.

For the first time in Israel, I produced Persian dance performances. Among the most notable are: “Bustan Veradim – Rose Orchard” ((In collaboration with my teacher and partner, creator Miriam Peretz); “Me’achori Hara’ala – Behind the Veil”; “Rikud Ha’Isha Ha’Iranit – Dance of the Iranian Woman” and more, shows that both appealed to the Israeli audience and received enthusiastic responses and journalistic coverage.

About four years ago, I founded the “Shiraz Ensemble” in Israel – a professional female ensemble that leads Persian dance in Israel and supports Iranian women who are fighting for a life of freedom, liberty, and peace. The ensemble presented a first and unique show in Israel called “Ga’agua – Longing” followed by “Mi’Tel Aviv Le’Shiraz – From Tel Aviv to Shiraz” which filled performance venues.

The clip in support of Iranian women that we produced

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVqBic4fot0) has garnered hundreds of thousands of views and moving responses even from Iran. We also appeared before Reza Koresh Ali Pahlavi who visited Israel in April of 2023, the son of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, the last Iranian Shah, and grandson of Reza Shah Pahlavi, the founder of the Pahlavi dynasty.

“Shiraz Ensemble” is today the home of Persian dance in Israel. It is a bridge between past and present, between ancient traditions and contemporary reading, a free spirit and personal expression.

With hope and a call to dance together with the Iranian people very soon, on the streets of Shiraz, the city where my parents were born.

To join and for more information: Iris Delshad 052-6335549; irisim100@gmail.com