{"id":251385,"date":"2026-08-16T13:12:20","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T13:12:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/251385\/"},"modified":"2026-08-16T13:12:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T13:12:20","slug":"photographs-reveal-how-iranian-women-have-used-dance-as-resistance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/251385\/","title":{"rendered":"Photographs Reveal How Iranian Women Have Used Dance as Resistance"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>      <img src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Hannah-Darabi-excerpt-from-the-video-Saeed-from-the-series-Follow-the-Beat-Why-Dont-You-Dance-2026-\u00a9.jpeg\" alt=\"A person with long hair, bare back, and covered in a red cloth, kneels and bows forward on a gray surface, arms bent and head down.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" class=\"size-large wp-image-865581\"   loading=\"eager\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"sync\"\/>Hannah Darabi, excerpt from the video \u201cSaeed\u201d, from the series Follow the Beat, Why Don\u2019t You Dance?, 2026 \u00a9 Hannah Darabi <\/p>\n<p>An Iranian photographer explores how women have used dance as resistance in the social and political history of her native country.<\/p>\n<p>Across Iran\u2019s modern history, dance has reflected changing ideas around identity, freedom, and self-expression. Through photographs, videos, and archival materials, Iranian artist Hannah Darabi explores how dance has been used as a form of cultural expression and resistance in her exhibition <a href=\"https:\/\/elysee.ch\/en\/exhibitions\/hannah-darabi-why-dont-you-dance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"follow external noopener nofollow\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">Why Don\u2019t You Dance?<\/a> at the Photo Elys\u00e9e in Lausanne, Switzerland.<\/p>\n<p> <img src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Hannah-Darabi-from-the-series-Cabaret-Tehran-House-of-Legends-Why-Dont-You-Dance-2026-\u00a9-Hannah-Darab.jpeg\" alt=\"A woman with long, wavy blonde hair stands with her back to the camera in a dimly lit room, wearing a black backless dress and raising her hands above her head.\" width=\"533\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-865576\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>Hannah Darabi, , from the series Cabaret Tehran, House of Legends, Why Don\u2019t You Dance, 2026 \u00a9 Hannah Darabi <img src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786885938_758_Hannah-Darabi-from-the-series-Cabaret-Tehran-House-of-Legends-Why-Dont-You-Dance-2026-\u00a9-Hannah-Darab.jpeg\" alt=\"A crowd of people in evening attire cheer, laugh, and take photos with their phones at a lively indoor event, surrounded by warm lighting and excitement.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" class=\"size-large wp-image-865577\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>Hannah Darabi, from the series Cabaret Tehran, House of Legends, Why Don\u2019t You Dance?, 2026 \u00a9 Hannah Darabi <\/p>\n<p>Running until November 1, 2026, Darabi\u2019s Why Don\u2019t You Dance? is inspired by the \u201cWoman, Life, Freedom\u201d movement, a nationwide protest against restrictive laws <a href=\"https:\/\/petapixel.com\/2022\/10\/14\/photos-show-what-life-looked-like-for-iranian-women-before-1979-revolution\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">imposed on women by the Iranian government.<\/a> The exhibition examinespopular dance as a powerful form of identity-based resistance \u2014 and the complex relationship between such cultural expression and contemporary Iran.<\/p>\n<p> <img src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786885938_390_Hannah-Darabi-from-the-series-Cabaret-Tehran-House-of-Legends-Why-Dont-You-Dance-2026-\u00a9-Hannah-Darab.jpeg\" alt=\"Woman wearing a gold, sleeveless top and brown skirt, with a long braided ponytail, poses confidently in front of a blurred background with black and gold balloons.\" width=\"533\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-865579\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>Hannah Darabi, from the series Cabaret Tehran, House of Legends, from Why Don\u2019t You Dance?, 2026 \u00a9 Hannah Darabi<br \/>\n <img src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786885939_423_Hannah-Darabi-from-the-series-Cabaret-Tehran-House-of-Legends-Why-Dont-You-Dance-2026-\u00a9-Hannah-Darab.jpeg\" alt=\"Two women pose together indoors; one wears a leopard-print dress, the other a light green dress and holds a matching purse. The background is blurred.\" width=\"533\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-865580\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>Hannah Darabi, from the series Cabaret Tehran, House of Legends, from Why Don\u2019t You Dance?, 2026 \u00a9 Hannah Darabi <\/p>\n<p>The exhibition is divided into three sections, each focusing on a key figure from Iran\u2019s popular dance scene. Together, the sections connect different periods of history and explore experiences in both Iran and the Iranian diaspora.<\/p>\n<p> <img src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786885940_583_Hannah-Darabi-from-the-series-Cabaret-Tehran-House-of-Legends-Why-Dont-You-Dance-2026-\u00a9-Hannah-Darab.jpeg\" alt=\"A woman in a sparkly dress sits on stage, holding a bright light source. Colorful lights and instruments are visible in the background, creating a lively atmosphere.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" class=\"size-large wp-image-865578\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>Hannah Darabi, , from the series Cabaret Tehran, House of Legends, Why Don\u2019t You Dance, 2026 \u00a9 Hannah Darabi <img src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786885940_88_Hannah-Darabi-from-the-series-Cabaret-Tehran-House-of-Legends-Why-Dont-You-Dance-2026-\u00a9-Hannah-Darab.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" class=\"size-large wp-image-865575\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>Hannah Darabi, , from the series Cabaret Tehran, House of Legends, Why Don\u2019t You Dance, 2026 \u00a9 Hannah Darabi <\/p>\n<p>The first section of the exhibition centers on Mahvash, a leading cabaret performer of the 1950s.The second section focuses on Jamileh, a renowned performer of belly dance and \u201cJaheli dance,\u201d a popular style rooted in Iranian urban culture.The final section examines Mohammad Khordadian, a dancer and choreographer from the Iranian pop scene in Los Angeles. Turning her attention to the Iranian diaspora, Darabi documents nights at the legendary Cabaret Tehran, a central gathering place for Iranians in Southern California and a site where cultural practices continued in exile.<\/p>\n<p>Drawing on the stories of these three figures, Darabi reveals how dance has endured through a shift in Iranian society, from traditional gender expectations toward more modern forms of expression. Here, entertainment becomes a political act, archives become tools of resistance, and performance becomes an expression of joyful resilience.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/elysee.ch\/en\/exhibitions\/hannah-darabi-why-dont-you-dance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"follow external noopener nofollow\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">Why Don\u2019t You Dance?<\/a> runs until November 1, 2026, at the Photo Elys\u00e9e in Lausanne, Switzerland.<\/p>\n<p> Affiliate Disclosure PetaPixel articles may include affiliate links; we may earn a commission if you buy through one. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hannah Darabi, excerpt from the video \u201cSaeed\u201d, from the series Follow the Beat, Why Don\u2019t You Dance?, 2026&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":251386,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[15557,63041,34,361,69],"class_list":["post-251385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tehran","tag-dance","tag-femalephotographer","tag-iran","tag-iranian","tag-tehran"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/117105363855365618","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}