Persian Dance Documentation
A Journey of Steps, Breaks, and Pauses
Baroness Ardenia ARuadh
(known in dance as Nadia)
Dance documentation is a challenge, of this there is no question. Dance is a
living, changing art form which is subject to interpretation of many kinds. As dance is
motion, it was not clearly “recorded” in ancient times. As an art of emotion, it seems to
defy clear and unquestionable written description.
Middle Eastern dance, in particular is hard to “document” clearly. We have many
visual examples of dance from Assyria, Egypt, Persia, and other places. These pictures
though, are static. They show “poses”, for lack of a better word. These poses may
truly be poses, or merely a moment which was a part of a fluid movement, which has
been frozen and captured by an artist. These pictures are also subject to artistic
interpretation and the socio-cultural mores of the time and culture in which they were
painted, sculpted, or carved. There are then further challenges of gaps in the history of
a dance or gaps in the historic evidence of dance.
Dance is a part of human nature and culture. People move to express emotion.
People move to release emotion. Music leads people to move, and to many it is a
seductive call that brings forth inspiration. There is dance in any culture where there is
music. Dance has meant different things to different cultures throughout time and
history. Dance was a way of communicating with the gods in many cultures. The
Guedra of Morrocco was and is still a dance to bring blessing to the dancer, the
audience, and the host. (Morrocco) Modern ballet is used to tell stories of love and
fantasy. Many other types of dance through the ages have been used to express the
secret fountains of the human existence. That people danced before the modern age
has never been questioned. The question asked about dance is not “If?” or “Why?”,
but “How?”
It might be suggested that the existence of modern dances from Middle Eastern
cultures proves the style of steps used in period dances. This is really not an accurate
interpretation, for many reasons. These reasons are related to time, travel, religion,
politics, and gender related issues.
A fairly accurate generality is that most Middle Eastern Dance, as performed in
the world today is conglomerate. There are styles with specific cultural influences, but
there has been much cross pollination of dance from one ethnic root to another.
Modern day Turkish dance is known for being flashy. Many describe modern Egyptian
dance as “cute” and stylized. American Tribal Style, which is a relatively new
conglomerate style, is often considered to be “earthy.” These dances may have their
own specific postures or names for movements, but many of the movements are the
same or slight variations of one another.
Religion has played a huge role in the spread and silencing of dance throughout
history, particularly, but not limited to Middle Eastern Dance. As religious policies and
regulations changed, dance was highlighted or driven underground. As various cultures
intermingled due to political change, dance forms changed. This will come further to
light in analyzing Persian dance in its similarity to Indian Temple Dance, and the ritual
dances of Asia. Especially in dealing with the Middle East, it is clear the ebb and flow of
religious zealousness and animosities helped to hasten or curtail the spread of dance
from one location to another. Teachers have lost students from a Middle Eastern dance
class because the students claimed that it was contrary to their Christian faith. Young
people may avoid the study of an eastern dance from because they have been told that
it is contrary to their faith. These are just a few points where religion, even now affects
the spread and interpretation of dance.
Politics may make the world go ‘round, but it has often impeded the growth and
recording of dance and its traditions. Some people in the Middle Eastern dance
community noted a temporary decline in new dancers following September 11, 2001.
Political changes in the Middle East in period regularly caused dance to be celebrated
or hidden. One particular example is found in Persia during the Safavid dynasty when a
group “fanatical Shiite dervishes” made Shiism the state religion of Iran and outlawed
music and dance. Many musicians, and possibly dancers fled the country for the
Moghul {sic} and Ottoman courts. (Friend) This leaves a gap of a significant period
when one tries to trace Persian dance from the 19th century into period. It does,
however leave open the possibility of Persian dance influencing what we now know of
dance in those cultures. These are just a few examples of how politic has influenced
the “archiving” of dance world wide, but specifically in the Middle East, and in reference
to Persia.
Gender is a key word when discussing Middle Eastern dance. Though we have
evidence of men’s dances like the Tatib in the post-period Middle East, as well as
documentation for a cultural history of men dancing, most people picture women when
speaking of Middle Eastern dance. I have heard it said that much of Middle Eastern
dance should be referred to as “women’s dance.” Many of the moves common to all
current Middle Eastern dance forms seem to have their roots in ancient birthing rituals
and prebirthing preparations. (Thabit) Other moves and stylings would be logical
“artistic” extensions of daily household tasks like bouncing a fussy child on one’s hip or
walking. As many cultures and faith throughout time have not recorded great details
about the lives of women, these kinds of facts are not clearly recorded. As some
cultures keep their women secluded, dance was never clearly recorded by an outsider.
As some cultures did no educate women, there was not always a way for women to
record their arts or daily lives.
Music is one last obstacle to approach before moving forward to analyze the
moves common in current Middle Eastern dance that do seem to be evidenced by the
miniatures painted in Persia during SCA period. Again, nothing was recorded. Music is
another living and dynamic art form. There is evidence of what instruments existed in
period. There are logical suppositions to be made about which instruments might have
been played together and how. This is thus, another pint of conjecture where fact and
logic hopefully collude. Without a clear understanding of what period music definitely
sounded like, one is still left to piece and guess how movement from one “pose”
depicted might move to another. Thus it is only possible to take the available evidence
and make an educated guess as to how dance might have been done in period.
As dance is not “completely” documented in its state of movement, it is
necessary to look at the depictions through a lens tinted by many factors. The first
factor is that Persian dance would be different in some ways from Modern Middle
Eastern dance due to some very specific facts about Persian culture. Some of these
fats are influenced by the location of Persia. Persian dance was also influenced by
costume, which was influenced by culture. Dance is also often influenced by the body
types common to the culture. This factor may be skewed, however, by the artistic
interpretations of the artists recording the depictions.
The Persian culture lens adds a very unique angle to any observation of dancers
from the miniatures. Persia can be considered the most “oriental” of the Middle Eastern
cultures in period. This is largely due to influences from Mongolia, as there were
periods where artists were “shipped” back and forth from one court to another due to
Mongol control of Persia (Farabi). There is also a clear cross-cultural influence from
India to Persia which is also evidenced by the miniatures. Indian dance has not
changed much over many years, and as a form of religious observance, it has been
much more accurately preserved and taught. Modern Persian dance has very stylized
hand positions and movements, which closely resemble those of modern and period
Indian temple dance. It may be possible to use traditional Central Asian and Uabek
dance techniques to fill in the holes from various period until now, as these cultures
already shared commonalities with Persia, but did not undergo the Shiite repression that
resulted in the loss of much of the history of dance in Persia (Friend) Using these ideas
as references when looking at the miniatures helps to create a frame in which to
analyze the movement indicated by the depictions.
Costume and body type also influence how the images of dancers should be
viewed. The fitting and layering of clothing from the period might make some of the
very large motions commonly seen in folkloric Egyptian or Lebanese dance somewhat
difficult. Most of the miniatures seem to depict people of a small to medium frame,
which is also somewhat different from the body type for the modern classical Middle
Eastern dancer in Lebanon. Large, exaggerated dance moves often look out of place
on dancers with small frames, especially while wearing very fitted and stylized clothing.
With these concepts in mind, an analysis of some of the pictures of dancers from the
Persian miniatures allows one to draw some logical conclusions about dance as it may
have been done in Persia in period.
Persian dance has been described as having small or minimal hip movement.
18th century Persian dance, as seen in the videos of Robyn friend shows small,
controlled hip movement. These movements are crisp and stylized. Figures 2-5 show
dancers with their feet fairly close together. Wide or accentuated hip movements
require a wider “base”. From the description, observation of modern Persian dance,
and logical understanding of dance kinesiology, the conclusion can be drawn that period
Persian dance involved small, clean hip motion. This type of motion is also the most
logical when one considers the fit of Persian garments in period, specifically the 15th
and 16th centuries.
The miniatures display feet part in various positions. This is logically in
indication of some potential for walking or movement. Those miniatures (figures 2-5)
which show an audience do not seem to show an overly large dance space, thus
indicating that movement might still be rather confined. This particular type of styling
would also follow some traditions in Indian and Central Asian dance. Some later period
Persian dances have more movement, but most seem to be performed in a fairly
confined space. Figure 4 shows a dancer with one foot raised. This can be interpreted
many ways. This could be a balance pose like those found in some Indian dances.
This could be a frozen moment in a zanuba or karshlama step, which is a common
move in Turkish and Egyptian dance where the dancer steps forward on one foot, shifts
his/her weight back to center on the other foot, steps back and the re-shifts his/her
weight back to center, somewhat like a classical salsa step. This dancer depicted could
also be preparing to turn. All of the moves are logical choices when one examines the
miniatures, in light of the other factors previously discussed.
Arm positions are very clear in the miniatures, which gives a dancer many
options. In figure 4 the right arm is clearly raised and bent at the elbow with a stylized
hand. This part of the pose is somewhat reminiscent of the carvings from Egypt which
are modeled into the Pharonic style. The left arm is also bent or curved at the elbow,
but is then brought in towards the hip. This may be an indication that the dancer was
performing what is modernly know as a snake or serpent arm where the dancer moves
both arms up and down in opposite serpentine motions rolling from the shoulder,
thought the elbow, through the writs and finishing with the fingertips with one arm
reaching the apex while the other is at its lowest point. Figure 1 shows a seated
woman who may be a dancer. Her left arm is in a similar pose to that of the dancer in
figure 4. Her right arm however is near her “heart. This could be a gesture of “giving”
which is common in post-period forms of Middle Eastern dance, including Persian.
Figure 2 shows two dancers. The dancer to the right has both arms upraised, possibly
in a gesture of “supplication”. This move is also similar to those found in traditional
Egyptian Pharonic styling. Similar poses to this are also included in traditional Indian
dance. This arm pose is often seen in post-period dance accompanied by sharp,
accented head slides. The dancer in figure 3 has similar arm position to the dancer on
the left of figure 2 and the dancers in figures 4 and 5. An interesting note is that the
dancers in figures 2-5 all may have some sort of small scarf in each hand (these may
also be extensions of their sleeves). Though it does not appear that veil as used in
modern Middle Eastern dance is period, these small scarves may be forerunners.
There is a 20th century Persian/Iranian dance from the Qashqa’i people that is
performed using a small hand scarf in each hand. These scarves may also be a
glimpse into the history of this dance style.
Dance is a dynamic art. It cannot truly be captured without motion. It is a fact
that people in period danced. There are pictures. There are tales. It is left to the
dancer and the musician to guess how the music was played and how it was
interpreted. We have images that are frozen moments of dance. These images can
only be used as guides. When the images come together with knowledge of other
styles contemporary to the miniatures and knowledge of dance from the culture in post
period, there is the most potential for a more accurate re-creation of dance in period.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Notes on references:
Many of my comments have come directly from my own observations as a
student of various dance forms. Other have come from discussion with and lessons
from noted artists like Lady Kate the Wench, Mistress Su’ad al Raksa, Morrocco, Robyn
Friend , Mistress Roxane Farabi, Mistress Safia Al Khansaa, Master Twit Ullium of
Witlow, Mistress Morgen Duval, Mistress Lakshmi Aman., and Mistress Anne Elaina of
Riversbend. When I remember specifically where a comment came from, I have noted
it.
I would like to thank all of the above people for their time, lessons, encouragement, and
opinions.
Thabit, Alia. St. Johnsbury, VT. A brochure promoting her classes and giving a brief
history of Middle Eastern Dance.
Friend, Robyn, Phd. Dances of Iran. 2000. and e-mail discussions relevant to the
documentation of Persian dance pre-1620.
Farabi, Roxane. 2003 Documentation for Persian patterns, also verbal history lessons
on Persian history, culture and customs.
Morrocco. Classes on the Guedra and Middle Easter Dance in General 2001, 2004.
Also for her web article on the guedra.
Figure 1
Khusraw & Shirin Entertained by Dancers
1568
(Source unknown, I copied the picture from Mistress Roxane’s clothing documentation)
Figure 2
Kanifu before Iskandar
1450
Figure 3
Dolvarani and Khirzkhan
Miniatures Illuminations of Amir Hosorv Dehlevi’s Works
Fan. Uzbek SSR. 1983
Figure 4
Binding of the Divan…
1540
Skira. Hunt for Paradise Coutrs of Safavid Iran.
Skira Editore , Milan 2003.
Figure 5
Timur holds a great feast with Amir Husayn …
1552
Sims, Eleanor. Peerless Images Persian Painting and its Sources.
Yale University Press. Singapore 2002.