Nastaran Razawi Khorasani This is not a dance

In Iran, dancing has been officially prohibited since the start of the Islamitic Revolution. All dance companies have been forced to cease their activities. Many dancers and choreographers have fled abroad. Those who still live there have to be very resourceful. How are they keeping their art form alive?
With This is not a dance, Nastaran Razawi Khorasani builds on her documentary-performative oeuvre to deal with censorship. She links a journalistic approach to a physical visual language by bringing the voices of choreographers and dancers living in Iran to the stage. How do they practice their profession, what dangers do they face, what freedoms are they fighting for? What can be shown, what must remain hidden? As the music and lights build towards a frenzy, Nastaran attempts to keep her dancing body in check. This is not a dance is a tribute to the body that wants to move. A tribute to art that simply must be made, in whatever way, shape or form.
about
Nastaran Razawi Khorasani is a graduate of Maastricht Institute of Performative Arts. Her work has received multiple awards (BNG Bank Theater award in 2020 and 2021) and is shown both nationally and internationally, including at the Flemish TheaterFestival, Theater Commons Tokyo, the Indonesian Dance Festival in Jakarta and at the FOG Festival at the Triennale in Milan. In the coming years, Nastaran will be part of the makers community of Theater Rotterdam.
https://www.nastaran.nl/
https://www.instagram.com/nastaranrazawikhorasani
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iW9llxWgq4
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Conceived, directed and performed by Nastaran Razawi Khorasani
Scenographer and videographer: Peter van Til (BrotherTill)
Composer: Joost Maaskant
Percussion (Tombak and Daf): Farid Sheek
Lighting Designer: Minna Tiikkainen
Coach: Suzan Boogaerdt
Costume Designer: Rebekka Wörmann
Technical producer: Peter Leeuwenburgh
Technicians: Hein van Leeuwen, Jimmy Niesen
Marketing: Dieke van der Spek
Education: Anne Sollie, Senna Pauli
Campaign image: Sanja Marušić
Scene photography: Bas de Brouwer
Stand-in rehearsals: Lotte van Delft, Jahcysha Boschman
Bookings: Alles voor de Kunsten
Production Management: Theater Rotterdam
Coproducers: Kobe, De Coproducers (supported by FONDS 21 EXTRA)
Many thanks to all those who have shared their stories.