My personal journey of exploring Persian dance style.

After seeing my performances people often get surprised that I’m not Iranian. How would I know how to dance Persian dance if I wasn’t Iranian?... Some event organizers even used it as a promotional trick, “a-la, an exotic Ukrainian dancer performing traditional Persian dances”.

In my turn, I still get surprised why people consider exploring different cultures as smith unusual. Aren’t we in the 21st century where technologies have removed traditional understanding of borders?⠀

In any case, one of the most frequent questions I receive is how I learnt Persian dance. To be honest, I’ve never expected it to become such an important part of my repertoire. It started out of simple curiosity.

I was lucky to study directly with the members of the Persian community in Toronto. Observing people’s dancing at different events, and occasional private classes were my way to go. In most cases it was based on watch-and-follow basis, and fortunately I had a nicely trained dance memory. Collecting movements, combinations, getting inspiration from other artists whom I watched on the Internet, informed my understanding of this beautiful dance form.

On one hand, it was challenging not to have a formal dance class, with movement break down, explanation of muscle work, music theory, etc. On another hand, it gave invaluable insights into ‘unfiltered’ Persian flavor. I’m pretty sure that I would have missed certain things in the character of this dance, nuances that are impossible to explain… They can only be learnt by observation and practice. ⠀

How about you? Do you prefer formal dance classes where everything is explained in detail, or do you prefer ‘follow me’ classes?

Check out my online course on Classical Persian Dance | Add Grace & Elegance to Your Body.

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Author and model: Iana Komarnytska

Photographer: Pedro Bonatto