Dance is in a difficult position in Iran. The situation is complicated, explains choreographer Ashkhan Afsharian. Stage dance is not generally banned. “It depends on who is doing what.” Contemporary, western-oriented dance in particular is a thorn in the side of the Mullah regime. Key players are arrested. Afsharian himself was part of the Iranian dance scene for more than ten years, but came to Berlin eight years ago. Most of his colleagues have also now left Iran. He is still in contact with many of them.
A platform for the exile scene
Four years ago, the choreographer founded the Tanzpol exchange platform for dancers with an Iranian background together with dance scholar Johanna Kasperowitsch. The duo is now organizing a festival for the second time. Tanzpol 2024 focuses on Iranian artists living in European exile. An estimated 50 choreographers live and work in the diaspora, reports Afsharian. Berlin, along with Paris, is an important point of contact for Iranian dance artists.
“The aim of the festival is above all an exchange and dialogue on different topics,” says Johanna Kasperowitsch. “The panel discussions are about the working conditions of artists who live in exile. What are the artists’ needs? We want to talk about it openly, also because many things are not going well yet.”
A total of seven performances will be presented in the Sophiensaele and the Uferstudios. The festival opens with “From the Lips to the Moon” by Tara Fatehi and Pouya Ehsaei. The duo combines traditional Persian narrative theater with music and dance. Only Mostafa Shabkhan is traveling from Iran to show his solo performance “Double Skin”.
Mission Bridge Building
Pol means “bridge” in Farsi. Tanzpol also wants to build a bridge between cultures. With “My friends Call Me Daniel”, the French choreographer Cédric Cherdel presents an autobiographical performance in which the young Afghan dancer Sajad Ahmad Nayevi talks about his longings, fears and experiences of exile.
An evening leads with the dambuli-dimbol-Music deep into traditional Iranian everyday life. It is music to which so-called mehmoonisocial gatherings in private. “The piece deals with Iranian music history in a humorous way,” says Kasperowitsch.
The Tanzpol Festival aims to create visibility for the Iranian dance scene in exile. The original idea was to use the festival to support dance artists in Iran. But that is currently impossible, says Afhsarian. “Since 2020, there has been no dance scene in the sense of a well-connected community. It’s getting worse and worse. As long as this government is in power, there is no hope.”