Southern California is home to the largest Iranian population outside of Iran.
And as Iran faces ongoing protests against its government, members of the Iranian diaspora have created their own ways to support the demonstrations.
Local ballerina Tara Ghassemieh has used social media to share videos of women dancing for Iran, an activity that is illegal under the Islamic Republic. She spoke to Amrit Singh on “LA Times Today.”
Social media has been a vital part of the Iranian protests, allowing demonstrators to share information with the world. As the first known Iranian American principal ballet dancer, Ghassemieh uses her own social channels to spread awareness through the hashtag #DanceForIran.
“To go into the streets and to be a woman in Iran and to do any sort of dance move that would reflect any Western movement, even ballet, something as classic and beautiful as that, you can risk your life doing that,” Ghassemieh said. “I have three children, and they danced for me sooner than they could speak. It’s a language. And to strip a nation of that birthright is to essentially strip a piece of the soul. That’s why I’ve called on not only the dance community, but the human family to just simply use the hashtag and dance, because what better act of protests than, you know, the divine movement of dancing?”
In 1979, after a revolution in Iran, the Iranian National Ballet was dissolved. Shining a light on what was once the largest ballet company in the Middle East has been an important mission for Ghassemieh. She spoke about the short film she produced about the company.
“The short film ‘Persian Swan’ is very much a preamble to a full feature documentary film that we are working on,” she said. “It very much introduces me to the world and, in a very artistic way, watches me stumble across this hidden history of the Iranian National Ballet. And when I tell people, even within the ballet community, that Iran had a national ballet company, they think I’m kidding.”
As a member of Orange County’s Iranian diaspora, Ghassemieh spoke about the impact the protests have had on her community.
“We are overwhelmed with gratitude to how many non-Iranian people are speaking up for us, how welcomed we actually feel in the world again, where we have felt very isolated and not because of our culture, but because of the regime,” she said. “And this is just such a powerful moment in Orange County. I’ve never seen so many Iranian people coming together and putting judgment aside and putting ideologies aside and just becoming one.”
The protests in Iran have largely centered on the slogan, “Woman, Life, Freedom.”
“That slogan for me is the future,” Ghassemieh said. “That is the future of humanity. And it’s truly the future of equality and and really bringing together a true human family instead of everything being separated. It’s tragic as to how we’re getting here, but we’re getting there.”
Ghassemieh and her nonprofit, the INTUITV Foundation, are producing their inaugural show, “The White Feather: A Persian Ballet Tale” at the Irvine Barclay Theater in March. Tickets can be purchased at INTUITV.co.
Click the arrow above to watch the interview.
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