DANCE AND SPIRITUALITY

Iran

List Of Dances

Bandari Dance Iran

Basseri Dance Iran

Bojnordi Dance Iran

Choob Bazi Iran

Classical Persian Court Dance Iran

Haji Narenji Dance Iran

Kharman Dance Iran

Khorasani Dance Iran

Latar Dance Iran

Le’b Guati Iran

Lezgi Dance Iran

Lori Dance Iran

Matmati Dance Iran

Mazandarani Iran

QasemAbadi Iran

Raqs-e-Pa Iran

Raghs-e-Pari (Persian Fairy Dance) Iran

Raghs-e Parcheh (Persian Veil Dance) Iran

Sama-o-Raghs Iran

Shamsir Dance Iran

Vahishta (Sufi spiritual Dance) Iran

 Yalli Iran
 Zar Iran
 
 
 
 

Bandari Dance

Persia

Bandari dance, a chain dance, is often referred to as Persian bellydance. Bandari dance is a chain dance that often involves multiple people dancing and often perform this at parties, traveling around in a circle and sometimes stepping into the centre for a solo with encouragement from other dancers, the only variations are in the arm movements. It is a Persian dance that prevails in the South of Iran next to the Persian Gulf and has been influenced by the African and Arabic music and dance. It is a combination of rhythmic movements in various directions according to the beat of the song. The distinct feature of this dance is the way performers wave their hands in a unique manner that resembles the cooperation of a group of fishermen at the sea. The word bandari means “of the port” and is a derivation of the Persian word bandar, meaning port.

Basseri Dance

Persia

Basseri dance is a traditional dance performed by the 

Basseri tribe who live in the Fars province. The dancers wear their traditional and colorful clothes.

Bojnourdi Dance

Persia

Bojnourdi dance 

Bojnord/Bojnourd is a village in the northeast section of Iran inhabited by a Turkic people. Men and women dance separately or together in Bojnordi dance, snapping their fingers in the method known as peshkan. Dancing in a circle with running and step hop steps, the dancers may turn alternate directions facing first one side then the next, dancers sometimes facing one another. Men or women may dance and wave small colorful scarves, called dastmal.

Choob Bazi

Persia

Choob bazi, also known as chob bazi, chub-bazi, çûb-bâzî or raghs-e choob, is a chain dance found all over Iran, performed by men with sticks, the name translates to English as ‘stick play’. There are two types of Choob bazi dance styles, the first one being more combative in style, only performed by men (normally only two men, assuming the roles as the attacker and the defender) and does not appear to have a rhythmic pattern; this style is more frequently found in Southwestern Iran. The second style Choob bazi is a circle or line dance with pattern, performed by both sexes and is more of a social dance.

Classical Persian Court Dance

Persia

Classical Persian court dances, solo dances, improvisational, often utilize delicate, graceful movements of the hands and arms with animated facial expressions are central to the concept of that difficult-to-define flirtatiousness. Persian classical dance has not been organized and codified. Thus each dancer creates her own style and improvises within a recognizably Persian framework of movements. Costumes for these types of dance feature rich silks, brocades and flowing long skirts.

Haji Narenji Dance

Persia

Haj Naranji dance an upper body motion is emphasized, with hand motions, trunk undulations and facial expressions being points of attention. 

Le’b Guati

Persia

Le’b Guati a spiritual dance by the Baluchis of Eastern Iran to rid a person of a possessing spirit

Lezgi Dance

Persia

Lezgi dance

 Azerbaijani and Caucasian folk dance; comes in variations of styles based on region.

 

Mazandarani Dance

Persia

Mazandarani dance

Lak Sema

Dasmal Sema

Majme Sema

Lampa Sema

Derum Bakordan

Tesh Sema

Chakka Sema

Saz Sema

Sema Hal

 

QasemAbadi

Persia

Qasemabadi, also known as Ghasem Abadi, is a chain genre, rice-harvesting dance of the Gilaki people from the Gilan province of Iran near the Caspian Sea.

 

Raghs-e-Pa

Persia

Raghs-e-Pa, also known as Raqs-e Pa or Pay-Bazi, is the traditional gymnasium footwork dance found at zurkhaneh (a traditional Iranian gym). The name translates to English as “foot dance”.

Sama o Raghs

Persia

Sama-o-raghs: a spiritual Sufi dance of joy that involves chanting. Dancers move to the rhythm of the music, often continuing until they fall into a trance or collapse from exhaustion.

Shamsir Dance

Persia

Shamshir dance: war dance involving a sword, also known as Shamshir-bazi; usually performed in Sistan and Baluchestan province

 

Yalli

Persia

Yalli, also known as Yally or Halay, an Azerbaijani chain folk dance, starts slowly and finishes fast at almost running speed. Traditionally it was a celebration of fire, which was a source of heat, light, and warm food. In ancient times dancers worshiped fire as a goddess.

Zaboli Dance

Persia

Zaboli dance: a folk, chain dance, from the Sistan and Baluchestan Province in Southeastern Iran

 

Zar

Persia

Zar a spiritual dance, from Southern coastal regions of Iran. People believe in the existence of winds that can be either vicious or peaceful and possess people. They are healed through a specific ceremony and dance

Zargari Dance

Persia

Zargari dance: a chain dance, from the Zargari people, a Romani-related ethnic group deriving from the Zargar, Iran area, specially Isphan.