Contemporary Dancers

Movement, form and rhythm has always been the main focus in my work. I always want to find ways to express myself through my body.

I’ve been dancing for as long as I can remember. Dance exists within everyone; you just have to search for it and find it. Why do I dance? I think the right question is, why shouldn't I dance? there’s no future for dancers in Iran, but that will not stop me from my passion.

 Performer, choreographer and designer based in Seattle. She started training in classical ballet at a young age in Iran, and after immigrating to the US she studied other dance styles like classical Persian dance, competitive ballroom dancing and Contemporary. 

Dance resources were limited during those times in Iran, but I took a few underground dance classes. My first serious encounter with dance, however, was when I had to teach dance to hearing-impaired students. Their only tool was their body, and so, without realizing it, I started using dance theatre techniques.

Having the freedom to express my soul through my body is what I cherish the most. It’s a holy feeling for me and I am constantly reminded that as an Iranian dancer I have a mission to accomplish.

All the arts are interconnected. I write a manifesto, and it transforms into a dance, which then becomes acting. Performance, acting, theater, painting, music, and cinema—they are all linked and inseparable for me.

Aisan Hoss started studying and performing Iranian dances at the age of twelve and teaching at the age of eighteen. She first encountered contemporary dance in London and she was drawn to the form’s unlimited possibilities for individual self expression and for experimentation of form and content. 

Sanaz holds a BA in Drama from Tehran and graduated from the DAMS school in Rome. She is a multi-disciplinary artist and is the founder of *Movement for Growth*, which is an experimental research group on body and movement.

Dance has always been the main source of inspiration for Rooz. She says dancing has no limits and that's what's makes it intriguing. Rooz explains that for her it's the creative process that makes dance exciting and not the final product.

Ahmadzadeh studied directing at the art university Soureh in Tehran, contemporary dance pedagogy at MUK in Vienna and Social Design at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. Her contemporary dance company  ATASH عطش ,which was founded in 2012, specifically addresses socio-political issues and cultural hierarchies.

Maya started with break-dancing and got interested in learning hip hop. She is currently focused on contemporary and freestyle dancing. She is not bound to any specific style as a dancer and her main goal is to explore the possibilities of performance art.

Dance has always worked as a meditation for me, it’s a place that I escape to and find freedom. 
I was introduced to dance through my acting career and I gradually felt the need to deepen my technique and understanding of dance to physically perform what I had envisioned in my mind.

My training has been mostly based on ballet and contemporary and I do a lot of research on dance and music to further my knowledge. I always choose dance , and the main reason is that I want to manifest the thoughts and the music that lives inside me .

 Capoeira is my main training, which is a combination of martial arts, dance, acrobatics and music and it dates back to 16th century. I’ve also been training in contemporary and ballet with Farimah in the last few years and I realize that a lot of contemporary dancers are using Capoeira movements and I try to do the same in my dance as well.

Dancing is forbidden in my land I taught myself to grow beyond moving to the music, rather to use dance as a universal language to rely on the sorrows and struggles of the people of Iran and show it to the world. I want to write a different destiny for myself; I want to rise and shine beyond this oppression.

When words run out, the body starts to speak.
Dance gives me the feeling of being alive; I can fly with it. In my opinion, the body is what helps us express loneliness.

I think by dancing, I express something for myself, and I’m not really trying to prove anything to the audience. The stage is like a platform for me, it’s a comfort zone similar to my bedroom or kitchen, where I do something that I deeply enjoy.

I feel that I didn’t choose dance, but rather it chose me. Because for as long as I can remember, it has been with me, and I am just nurturing it. I consider this my mission. I want to show my feelings to the audience through a body that is free from any labels that society or culture may assign to it.

My theater and acting background changed my perception in dance. My concepts are whatever I live through and it varies in different periods. I don’t like to describe myself in words because if I were good with sentences, I probably wouldn’t have become a dancer.

Dance takes me into a world that no words can describe; a world that can only be created through the body and the presence of the moment. For me, dance is like a mirror reflecting the human soul, a soul that has suffered and feels alone. This highlights the importance of personal experiences and the inner life of a modern dancer.

I believe that when words fail to express emotions and thoughts, a visual language like contemporary dance can serve as a reliable alternative, a language where the artist’s body becomes their pen, and movement becomes a transformed state of speech. 

Aryana Malekzadeh is an Iranian Canadian performing dance artist and dance instructor based in Toronto. She is a graduate of Dance Arts Institute (formerly The School of Toronto Dance Theatre) and holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honours from York University where she was awarded merit scholarships for her excellent work ethic.