Evading censorial power : contemporary dance and dancing bodies in 21st century Iran and its diaspora

Abstract

This dissertation is concerned with looking at the dance scene in 21st Century Iran. Particularly, it analyses contemporary dance and the dancing body, both in and at a local level and in its diaspora. The reason motivating this study is to shed light on the act of the governmental censorship in the Islamic country. Censorship in Iran interests various aspects of social life and with different results. The discussion is centered on the restrictions imposed upon dance, the way this art form is limited and artists’ reaction. The objective of this dissertation is to seek for causes behind the radical changes occurred in Iran after the Cultural Revolution of 1979. By delving into the analysis of historical facts, this study retraces the stages which led to the ascension of the authoritarian power of the State. Particular attention is drawn to investigate the dancing body and its use in dance as possible cause behind the censorship. Furthermore, this paper endeavors to set up a methodology of analysis based on qualitative research and methods of data collection. Personal interviews, textual and contextual examination of some dance performances and a documentary film are illustration of the topics under investigation. The first chapter of this dissertation took on the history of Iran, in the period preceding and following the Revolution of 1979, considering an analysis of the resulting socio-cultural changes and transformations that still interest the Iranian society of today. The second chapter is concerned with a sociological analysis of the dancing body, subdued to political ideology, social obligations, religious values, and censorial restrictions. Last, chapter three provides a case-study methodology to examine contemporary dance and dance art works in 21st Century Iran and its Diaspora. Through a circumstantial investigation, this dissertation accomplishes his goal of examining critically a situation yet unclear. That dance is censored in Iran is a truth, although a universal, unanimous, unvarying explanation of the reason why this happens has not yet been found.