Dance is one of the cultural topics facing some of the greatest challenges in Iran. Culturally, dance constitutes one of the richest and most extensive branches of art, having a long tradition and history. But in today’s Iran, dance is automatically regarded to be a political issue, even though dancers have no intention for it to be thought of in this way. In spite of the fact that Iran is considered to be one of the most ancient centers of dance culture, dance has still faced many challenges in its long history, particularly after the arrival of Islam in Iran.

This volume is an extraordinary history of dance, full of mystery and humor. The various developments in the history of this art in Iran have never before been presented in a single book, making “Dance in Iran: Past and Present” the most comprehensive work on the subject to date. The book examines the major branches of Iranian regional, ethnic, and national dances as well as Iranian ballet and describes their history to the present. The videos are available at the website www.reichert-verlag.de and contain unique historical dance material from the pre-revolutionary period and examples of Iranian ballet from the contemporary era.

The book is suitable for anyone involved or interested in the dance history of Iran.