Persian dance and neuroscience As an artist I have always been inter- ested in creating new work, but cre- ating a pedagogy was a new way to use my imagination. It was shortly after my book was published that I was contacted by then London-based neuroscientist Dr. Julia F. Christensen, who was working on the effects of dance on the brain. She proposed to collaborate on a dance-neuroscience project involving a movement library. Julia had worked with ballet dancers on a similar project and was inter- ested in exploring other dance forms. I found the proposal very enticing and was excited to begin working with her and the team of researchers, some of whom were Iranian. My part of the project began with the choreography of 120 short move- ment sequences, danced with a vari- ety of emotions. These 120 sequences were later filmed with no sound/ music, and my image was made into a silhouette so no facial expres- sion could be seen. Put briefly, the experiment consisted of participants of various backgrounds watching the sequences and answering ques- tions such as: 1) Into what cate- gory of emotion would you place each sequence? 2) How strongly is the emotion being expressed by the dancer in each sequence? and 3) How would you rate the sequences in terms of beauty? The preparation and implementa- tion of the experiment took many months. The analysis and resulting paper illustrates the data in several charts and diagrams and discusses the results. The paper is still under review and not yet published. This collabo- ration was so intriguing for all of us that we decided to continue working together on other projects. Introducing Persian dance at the British Science Festival We also partook in fun, thought-pro- voking public engagement activities in a few popular science events that triggered scientific questions, but
Dance, music and food are a big part of Iranian culture. Families and friends gather often to enjoy each other’s company, prepare feasts, play both traditional and modern music, sing old and new songs, and dance in traditional and contemporary ways. These events are multigenerational, and therefore the dances are passed on from one generation to the next. Ira- nian dance artists often choreograph dances which are founded in and stem from these family and communtity dances. This dance language embod- ies the aesthetics of Iranian culture in such a detailed and intricate way that learning it as a dancer who has not been raised in the culture requires some analysis and introspection. The art of Persian dance Persian dance technique involves lay- ers of subtle movement coordinated in very specific ways to express emotions and mannerisms that are not com- mon in Western culture. Systematic learning of the technique is required to achieve the necessary coordination, and understanding of cultural nuances is essential for culturally contextual meaningful expression. I also believe that in order to expand one’s move- ment vocabulary and ways of expres- sion, even those fully fluent in the social movement language can benefit from pedagogy and formal training. There is no evidence of any recorded system of codified movements in Ira- nian dance. Nor is there any accessi- ble archive of ancient choreographed dances and pedagogy that would be treated as an established and formal method for teaching and performing Iranian dance. There are a handful of Iranian dance artists who have devel- oped their own formats for teaching, but most do not have a published cod- ified system. As intuitively based as it may be for Iranians, this dance form is composed of a movement vocabu- lary and has the potential for codifi- cation. Dance historian Anthony Shay suggests, “The performance of this dance tradition does not derive from
were not formal scientific studies. One such event was The British Science Festival held in Coventry, UK in September of 2019. There, Dr. Christensen gave a lecture based on her book, Dance Is The Best Med- icine , and I taught a Persian dance workshop titled, “Get Up and Dance.” An article was published based on this event, titled Seven Reasons Why You Should Dance 3 . We had multiple goals for this work- shop. One goal was to promote the idea that dancing – in any style – is a healthy activity physically, mentally, and emotionally. Another goal was to introduce the public to a dance form and a movement language they most likely had never seen, Persian dance, with music they had never heard. There was an initial sense of ner- vousness in the group, due to unfamil- iarity with the movement and music. It took a little while for the partici- pants to get over the awkwardness of feeling clumsy as they attempted to move in a whole new way. But before long we could see them let go and allow their bodies to move in this new way. I could sense that it was liberat- ing for them. The workshop was designed to fos- ter a sense of community – an inte- gral component of Iranian social and tribal dances – which helped the par- ticipants with their initial discomfort. One thing Dr. Christensen and I both noticed was that at the beginning of the class the students stood farther away from each other, but at the end, the personal space between them had shrunk, and almost all of them had smiles on their faces. I also noticed that their bodies looked more relaxed. Another goal of the workshop was to teach about a different culture through the embodiment of its movement lan- guage, much like we learn about a culture through its verbal language. I taught specific Iranian movement vocabulary that expresses distinct cul- tural nuances. And I described how 3 https://www.britishscienceassociation.org/ blogs/bsa-blog/7-ways-dancing-can-improve-your-life
certain body lines and angles allude to specific social mannerisms, so the par- ticipants could understand these sub- tleties in Iranian culture. Introducing Persian dance at the Max Planck Institute The most recent experiment Dr. Christensen and I collaborated on was an 8-week study conducted at the Max Planck Institute for Empiri- cal Aesthetics in Frankfurt, Germany. This experiment consisted of 16 Ira- nian dance classes (two classes a week) taught to German female students with little or no dance train- ing and no familiarity with Iranian culture. The goal of the experiment was to see whether a dance class is an effective tool for transmitting cultural knowledge, as well as improving the student’s physical and emotional health. These classes were carefully designed to teach Iranian culture through Ira- nian dance technique, including show- ing some paintings and discussing com- mon aesthetics between Iranian visual art and dance. There is a theme of cur- vilinear lines with dynamic but graceful brush strokes in Iranian paintings and calligraphy. Compositions often con- sist of circular patterns, smooth tran- sitions between images, and distinct and dynamic juxtaposition of imag- ery. There are also geometric design elements in Persian architecture that carry similar visual motifs to the paint- ing and calligraphy. The same dynamic nuances translate into Iranian musical compositions and rhythmic structures. All of these aesthetics and dynamics are reflected in the dance form. The participants in this experiment were required to answer weekly ques- tionnaires throughout the experiment. The data from this study is in the pro- cess of being analyzed. The potential of dance to bridge cultural differences Let us assume that the transmission of cultural knowledge through the movement language specific to that
cutlture affects the brain. In other words, this process influences the brain’s neural pathways by introduc- ing new ways to think and move, and affects brain function by triggering certain hormones. As evidenced by the Behavioral Brain Research study I cited at the beginning of this article, we know that the brain can regulate emotions and thus social behavior. Can we therefore deduce that under- standing a different culture through the embodiment of its movement lan- guage ultimately affects our social behavior and thus our relationships? If this assumption is correct, an effec- tive tool for improving relations between people of different cultures is through their dances! It is exciting to have scientific evi- dence to corroborate our intuitive understanding of the effects of dance on our emotions and behavior. But as dance artists and educators, we expe- rience this phenomenon through our senses every day. Connections are made between people, cultural gaps are bridged, and relationships are for- tified through the language of dance. For us, these sensual experiences form our reality and our truths. Video links: Dance Your Emotion Project Presentation: youtu.be/zXM2NpfbS0s MPIEA experiment- 2021: drive.google.com/file/d/1ZpUgyKGU_ D39ILXvQcfxyVM80EDOYsuc/
AS AN ARTIST I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN INTERESTED IN CREATING NEW WORK, BUT CREATING A PEDAGOGY WAS A NEW WAY TO USE MY IMAGINATION.
a formless, meaningless collection of movements, but rather forms a coher- ent movement system…like Persian classical music, dance is capable of being systematized, a prerequisite for the creation of an aesthetic system.” 2 I agree with Shay and have spent the greater part of three decades exploring, analyzing, and processing this move- ment language. I published my format, Shahrzad Technique, in my book, The Art of Persian Dance in 2015. A num- ber of Iranian dance instructors inside and outside of Iran now use this book as a reference guide for teaching.
view?usp=sharing MPIEA website: www.aesthetics.mpg.de/dance
SHAHRZAD KHORSANDI is an Iranian-born dancer and choreographer residing in California. She has always been passionate about dance, studied Modern Dance and Performance Art at CalArts, and holds a BA in Dance, and an MA in Creative Arts from SFSU. Shahrzad has drawn upon her experience in Iranian culture, and her formal dance training, to create a dance vocab- ulary and pedagogy for Iranian dance. She is the artistic director of Shahrzad Dance Company, the author of the book, The Art of Persian Dance , and a member of an international research team, studying the effects of dance on the brain.
2 (Shay, Choreophobia , 1999, 177)
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