Banafsheh Amiri Dance
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Selected work

Performance as a place to think, remember, and reimagine.

The Khazan ensemble performing beneath projected Iranian architectural imagery
Photo by Natalie Fiol
01

Choreography · Ensemble work · 2025

Khazan / Autumn

Khazan (Autumn) is a group work embodying the cultural and social narratives of Iranian women. Using autumn as a metaphor for shedding the old and transitioning to the new, the choreography brings Iranian visual arts, women’s protest gestures, folk traditions, world dance forms, and contemporary perspectives into dialogue. A commissioned score and live singing move through varied time signatures in the Shour mode.

Project details
Premiere
January 30, 2025
Location
Colwell Playhouse, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Urbana–Champaign, Illinois
Context
MFA thesis work · University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign
Choreographer
Banafsheh Amiri
Dancers
Banafsheh Amiri, Lena Baumann, Anna Brady, Ashley Bruno, Rose Boder, Bellamy Negron, Josie Stierwalt, Damiyah Williams; Erin Fabian, understudy
Live music
Bahram Khani, composer and Tar · Brant Roberts, Tombak · Banafsheh Amiri, vocal
Production
Robyn Farley, costumes · Cameron L. Strandin, lighting · Erica Feagin, sound · Nicholas J. Taboni, media · Francesca Butera, stage manager
Banafsheh Amiri performing Faryad before projected Persian calligraphy
Photo by Natalie Fiol
02

Choreography · Solo performance · 2024

Faryad / Shout the Call

Faryad is a solo embodying the voice of the Iranian people. Carrying the weight of political pressure, the work becomes a cry that asks the world to witness Iranian heritage and struggle and respond to a call for justice. Commissioned music, live singing, dancing, Tar, playback music, and projected Persian calligraphy make that call both heard and felt.

Project details
Premiere
January 30, 2024
Location
Tyron Festival Theatre, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Urbana–Champaign, Illinois
Choreography and performance
Banafsheh Amiri
Live musician
Bahram Khani, Tar
Music
Ghateye Torkaman (Avaze Faryad) · Hossein Alizadeh, composer · Mohammad-Reza Shajarian, vocal
Production
Khetag Tsabolov, costumes · Kyle Wurtz, lighting · Daniella Brown, sound · Danielle Monet, media · Lydia Przybylski, stage manager
Banafsheh Amiri performing Sepideh at a Woman, Life, Freedom gathering in Chicago
Photo by Kaveh Mozafari
03

Dance film · Solo work · 2022

Sepideh / Dawn

Sepideh (Dawn) is a solo dance created and performed in response to the Woman, Life, Freedom movement. Choreographed as a reflection on that moment in Iran’s uprising, the work became a gesture of hope, resilience, and unity. Inspired by the poetic vision of dawn, Sepideh invites the audience to rise, resist, and believe in a collective future.

Project details
Premiere
October 29, 2022
Location
Buckingham Fountain, Chicago
Choreography and performance
Banafsheh Amiri
Music
Sepideh (Iran, Ey Saraye Omid) · Mohammad-Reza Lotfi, composer · Mohammad-Reza Shajarian, vocal
Costume
Banafsheh Amiri
Banafsheh Amiri performing Rastaakhiz-e Shahriyaran
Photo by Ananthan Nambiar
04

Performance · Lecture · 2023

Rastaakhiz-e Shahriyaran / The Uprising of Sovereigns

This performance-presentation begins with political poetry and the story of dance in Iran as a form of protest and unity during recent social movements. Images of protesters lead into Rastaakhiz-e Shahriyaran, where a Persian princess awakens from a land of pride. The figure becomes an embodiment of empowerment and a call to stand for collective rights.

Project details
Premiere
October 19, 2023
Location
Chicago Cultural Center · Pearson Global Forum, University of Chicago
Later presentation
Global Fusion, 2025
Choreography and performance
Banafsheh Amiri
Music
Rastaakhiz-e Shahriyaran · Hami Haghighi, composer · Mahbobeh Golzari, vocal

Work in progress · August 2026–May 2027

Work in progress

Embodied Iranian Music

An inquiry into how Iranian music can generate contemporary movement vocabularies and new forms of collaboration.

Explore current research
A private dance gathering in Tehran

Lecture-performance · In development

Dance in the Corners of the House

A lecture-performance on censorship, memory, and the underground survival of dance in Iran.

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Living archive

Miniature Dance Academy

Ten years of women-centered training, choreography, and performance in Tehran.

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