May I have this Dance?

admin5 years ago on news, Showcases, Still photography
Sometimes Yasamin dances on the rooftop of her home. Many Iranian women dream of singing and dancing under the sky of their homeland.
Photo: Shirin Abedi

STILL PICTURE STORY
by Shirin Abedi – made in the spring 2019 as her final Photo Story during Photo I at DMJX.

In a long red dress with a small crown in her hair, Mojdeh dances in front of a red curtain in the cheer of a female audience in Tehran, Iran.

Mojdeh (21) and Yasamin (22) belong to the same ballet group in Tehran. They are part of the Iranian post-war generation, which stands up for self-determination, freedom and equality.

In 1958 the Iranian national ballet company was established and produced over 50 shows till the revolution. According to the Iranian law, immorality and fornication result from sensual dance, why 1979 all dance facilities got dissolved and dance got banned from the Iranian public.

Nevertheless, more and more Iranians are dancing today and try to make this their profession. The ballerina Pardis formed a ballet group with Nima, a contemporary dancer in 2008, which ten years later performed for the first time after the revolution with both women and men on Tehran‘s most famous stage.Having said that, the group is struggling with reprisals: Already approved plays are cancelled, the light is turned off during the performance and too much public attention, such on Instagram for instance may result in the arrest of the participating artists.

Whereas during the revolution ballet’s abolition symbolized independence from the West, today dance stands for the longing of a generation for Western freedom.This story is about the social change in Iran on the basis of a subculture in which dance is elementary to life. By this, the dancers represent a whole generation, who reclaims their desired future.

„Mojdeh and Yasamin met in their ballet classes and became friends. They rehearsed three times a week for their performance of a heroic figure of the Iranian mythology.  The show got cancelled shortly before the premiere because a leaked video of the rehearsals went viral on Iranian media and bashed the show.”
Photo: Shirin Abedi
“If they take away dance from me, it is like they took away my life.” – Mojdeh is 20 years old and dreams of becoming a professional ballet dancer. Because of the educational disadvantage Iranian dancers have in comparison to their foreign collegues, Mojdeh strives to study
dance abroad.
Photo: Shirin Abedi
Mojdeh streches in the evening after her rehearsal at home. Since some iranian dancers got arrested because their dancing videos went viral on instagram, Mojdeh keeps her account private for her safety. She often shares videos of her dance or workouts on Instagram. ”Instagram is one of our few delights.”
Photo: Shirin Abedi
Mojdeh picks Yasamin up with her car, after Yasamin had an argument with her boyfriend.
Photo: Shirin Abedi
The crew learns a choreography designed by a former student of the Iranian national ballet company. After the revolution, he pursued an architecture career. Meanwhile he teachs ballet to the new generation of dancers in Iran.
Photo: Shirin Abedi
Yasamin is a visual designer who suffers in the iranian traditional society. Although her mother is a practicing muslim, she totally supports her daughter. This shows the social change in Iran. While parents of previous generations believed that “good girls don‘t dance” or “girls can‘t laugh loudly in public”, today‘s parents are more tolerant and support their children, even if they have different opinions.
Photo: Shirin Abedi
Mojdeh (20) keeps a book in which she writes down her dreams. “Sometimes I imagine I‘m dancing on a big stage in front of an international audience. But very fast I remember
it is not real.”
Photo: Shirin Abedi
Yasamin and Mojdeh hold hands during a rehearsal, while the choreographer and director were talking to the dancers.
Photo: Shirin Abedi
Yasamin sits in the locker room before a rehearsal. While rehearsing in Iranian public facilities, women have to wear wide, long and dark clothes.
Photo: Shirin Abedi
According to national Iranian media, these women are a tiny minority, almost not existing. Even the word “dance” shall not be used. Instead institutions shall officially use the names rhythmic movements, theatralic motion or aerobic for their dance classes.
Photo: Shirin Abedi
Yasamin (22) hangs out with her boyriend by an artificial lake in western Tehran. Almost a decade ago, reationships between unmarried women and men were a taboo among the majority of Iranians. Back then, couples could be arrested by the morality police for their relationship. Nowadays having a girl- or boyfriend is much more accepted in the
Iranian society.
Photo: Shirin Abedi