Monday evening Shiny Ladies class information

 

Dear Shiny Ladies, I have added some replies to questions asked in the class at the bottom of this page.

 

Books from my library Session 1.

  • History of Theatre in Iran, William Floor, Mage Publishing

 

  • Royal Persian Manuscripts, Stuart Cary Welch, Thames and Hudson
  • Princes, Poets & Paladins, Sheila Canby, British Museum Press

 

Session 2

  • The Blood of Flowers, Anita Amirrezvani, Headline

 

  • Le Theatre et Danse en Iran, Medjid Rezvani, Editions D'Aujord'hui
  • The Dance of the Rose and the Nightingale, Nesta Ramazini, Syracuse University Press

 

Music

 

Music files

Mahur mp3 (Siegel, Varzi, Modirian)

Tabla mp3 (Issam from Issam and Sonia drum solo)

Rashid Khan (Pari Zangene)

 

To warm up and practice Persian welcome steps

Session 1

  • Siegel, Varzi, Modirian - Mahur (our choreography is from the final section)

 

  • Dancing the Knife (edited from first performance).

- Reng e Shoushtari (Mehragan, Masoud Jahed and Babak Shahraki)

- Susan Deyhim - Shy Angels.

Session 2

  • Cats - Spell of the Cats.

 

  • Siegel, Varzi, Modirian - Mahur (our choreography is from the final section).

 

Mentioned: Kooch, Bristol-based Iranian rock band.
You can purchase their CDs (Zemzeme and Live at QEH) from me. £5 each.

 

DVDs

Session 1

  • Medea dancing with Jo de Waal singing songs from folk songs originally sung by Pari Zanganeh. Part of a show called Travellers devised and presented by Jacqui Jamal.
  •  

Additional DVDs I mentioned:

Banafsheh Sayyad, In the Fire of Grace

DVDs mentioned, Robyn Friend, Dances of Central Asia. You can purchase this DVD from me.

 

Dancers/teachers mentioned:

Madam Lazarian (Medea's dance teacher in Tehran), Abdollah Nazemi, Nima Khian.

 

Dance questions

 

Show me the basic Persian step

Starting with feet parallel to shoulders.

Step with right foot forward. Weight on right foot.
Step the spot with left foot. Transfer weight to left foot
Step on the spot, weight on right foot.

Left foot step forward, weight on left foot
Small stationery step with weight on right foot.
Stationery step on left foot with weight on left foot.

R l r  - L r l.

I hope this makes sense. I will make a film of this step which I will share.

 

Arm and hand position with Persian step

The Persian step is a little like normal walking. Opposite foot and hand go forward together. 

R l r  - L r l.   (feet in this position)

L       -   R.   (while arms are forward in this position).

 

Other questions

Lakes in Iran

Are these blue areas shown in my map lakes? Apologise, I was not wearing my glasses so I was not sure what we were looking at. In the map I brought in. Some of the blue are rivers and dams. Some parts are agricultural lands which are seasonally flooded, some are lagoons, and some are (dry) salt lakes. There are some lakes in the North West, at Oroumieh.

The area in the North of Iran by the Caspian Sea is very green. Near Rasht on the Caspian there is a large lagoon called Anzali. Next time I will bring a different map. The names of many places differ in different maps due to discontinuity in our history.

 

Events

 

Tuesday 13 March

Shiny ladies Persian New Year dance party (note, change of date). The mahur dance which we have been practicing is perfect for this celebration.

 

Persian/Iranian celebration

New Year (Nowruz) is on the Vernal Equinox (normally 21 March). In 2012 it is on Tuesday 20 March at 5 am. An article by Philip Walker about Nowruz is available here. The article is also available on the Habibi archive website. Type Philip Walker into the search on the site to find the article.

 

Chaharshanbeh Suri

The last Wednesday of the year which is celebrated on the night before, through rituals, particularly jumping over small fires to bring health and happiness to the New Year.

 

Sizdah Be-dar

This is a celebration thirteen days after the start of New Year when Iranians/Persians traditionally have a picnic to welcome the start of spring.