Afsaneh Ballet
Encyclopedia
Afsāneh Ballet is a non-profit cultural organization devoted to the expressive arts dance, music and poetry of the greater Persian cultural zone Iranian cultural continent: Iran
, Tajikistan
, Afghanistan
, Uzbekistan
, Azerbaijan
, Turkmenistan
, Armenia
and Western China
. The historical trade route Silk Road
, stretched across thousands of kilometres in Central Asia
— from the China Sea
in the East to the Mediterranean in the West, connected these countries for centuries long, not only physically but also culturally. The organization derives its name from the Persian
word Afsāneh, meaning Myth, Fable
. Afsaneh Ballet is considered to be one of the foremost proponents in the field of world dance and Persian dance in particular.
In 2003, Afsaneh Art and Culture Society launched a translation project. The aim of this project is to increase the visibility of the contemporary Iranian literature
on the world stage, create a greater opportunity for Iranian literature to be part of the modern conversation and to receive its deserved international recognition.
In 2005 the organization launched a cultural exchange project with artists in Tajikistan. The Tajik Dance Initiative engages Tajik artists, scholars and arts administrators with their international counterparts, creating opportunities for collaborative work, and support for the dance artists and related expressive arts of Tajikistan.
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, Tajikistan
Tajikistan
Tajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east....
, Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
, Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
, Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan , formerly also known as Turkmenia is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic . Turkmenistan is one of the six independent Turkic states...
, Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
and Western China
Western China
Western China , refers to the western part of China. In the definition of the Chinese government, Western China covers six provinces: Gansu, Guizhou, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Sichuan, and Yunnan; one municipality: Chongqing; and three autonomous regions: Ningxia, Tibet, and Xinjiang.-Administrative...
. The historical trade route Silk Road
Silk Road
The Silk Road or Silk Route refers to a historical network of interlinking trade routes across the Afro-Eurasian landmass that connected East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean and European world, as well as parts of North and East Africa...
, stretched across thousands of kilometres in Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
— from the China Sea
East China Sea
The East China Sea is a marginal sea east of China. It is a part of the Pacific Ocean and covers an area of 1,249,000 km² or 750,000 square miles.-Geography:...
in the East to the Mediterranean in the West, connected these countries for centuries long, not only physically but also culturally. The organization derives its name from the Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
word Afsāneh, meaning Myth, Fable
Fable
A fable is a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, mythical creatures, plants, inanimate objects or forces of nature which are anthropomorphized , and that illustrates a moral lesson , which may at the end be expressed explicitly in a pithy maxim.A fable differs from...
. Afsaneh Ballet is considered to be one of the foremost proponents in the field of world dance and Persian dance in particular.
In 2003, Afsaneh Art and Culture Society launched a translation project. The aim of this project is to increase the visibility of the contemporary Iranian literature
Persian literature
Persian literature spans two-and-a-half millennia, though much of the pre-Islamic material has been lost. Its sources have been within historical Persia including present-day Iran as well as regions of Central Asia where the Persian language has historically been the national language...
on the world stage, create a greater opportunity for Iranian literature to be part of the modern conversation and to receive its deserved international recognition.
In 2005 the organization launched a cultural exchange project with artists in Tajikistan. The Tajik Dance Initiative engages Tajik artists, scholars and arts administrators with their international counterparts, creating opportunities for collaborative work, and support for the dance artists and related expressive arts of Tajikistan.
Performers and collaborators
- Sharlyn Sawyer (Caucasian/American), Director
- Aliah Najmabadi (Persian/Norwegian)
- Sahar Dehghan (Persian/Iranian)
- Miriam Peretz (Israeli/Moroccan), Assistant Director
- Rosa Rojas (Mexican/American)
- Tara Pandeya (Indian/German)
- Hannah Romanowski (Russian/American)
- Farima Berenji (Persian/Iranian)
- Leila Sadeghi (Persian/Iranian)
- Mariam Gaibova (Tajik)
- Wan-Chao Chang (Taiwanese)
- Jade Raybin (Caucasian/American)
- Behrouz Sadeghian (Persian/Iranian)
- Neema Hekmat (Persian/Iranian)
- Pourya Khademi (Persian/Iranian)
- Ashkan Ghafouri (Persian/Iranian)
- Pesham Akhavass (Persian/Iranian)
- Kaveh Heydayati (Persian/Iranian)
- Salokhuddin Fakhriev (Uzbek/Tajik)
- Tameem Afzali (Afghan/American)
- Mohammad Nejad (Persian/Iranian)
- Aziz HerawiAziz HerawiAziz Herawi is a noted musician from Afghanistan. He specializes in the dutar and rubab, both plucked string instruments. Afghan musician Aziz Herawi was seven years of age the first time he heard the strings of the dutar being plucked. He talked one of the family servants, who hid it in a...
(Tajik/Afghan) - Siamak Pouyan (Persian/Iranian)
- Sherene Melania (Assyrian/American)
Awards
- The Persian Center of the Bay Area
- The Shabe-Ashanaee Persian Cultural Organization
- The Persian Students Association of Stanford University
- Iranian American Society of New York
- San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom humanities achievement award
- Afghan Coalition
- Iranian Federated Women's Club-Payvand School
See also
- Persian dancePersian dancePersian dance refers to the type of dancing from Iran. Persian dance is very sensual, circular and slow which makes it a dance that is unique to Iran amongst all other Middle Eastern dance forms....
- Persian traditional music
- Iranian folk musicIranian folk musicDespite all common roots the folk music in each different part of Iran has certain characteristics in correlation with its native myths, dialects, geographical and social situation...
- Afsaneh Ballet-Official website
External links
- A collage of dance performances by Afsāneh Ballet, 2008, YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/v/FJYDUc6uWGw&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&border=1 (4 min 22 sec).
- Short excerpts of two dances by Mirian Peretz with Afsaneh Ballet, 2007: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=sSwP7ZfaS9Q (3 min 32 sec).
- Excerpts of two performances by Afsaneh Ballet, San Mateo, CaliforniaSan Mateo, CaliforniaSan Mateo is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area. With a population of approximately 100,000 , it is one of the larger suburbs on the San Francisco Peninsula, located between Burlingame to the north, Foster City to the east, Belmont to the south,...
, 2007: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=KCRVvgROnsw (1 min 18 sec), http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=44S44iQ7ZA0 (1 min 7 sec). - A performance by Afsāneh Balleh at San FranciscoSan Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
City Hall Rotunda in celebration of the Iranian New Year, NowruzNowruzNowrūz is the name of the Iranian New Year in Iranian calendars and the corresponding traditional celebrations. Nowruz is also widely referred to as the Persian New Year....
, March 2007, YouTube: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=i8ItwInRTVs (7 min 32 sec).