page_title: Dances in Iran
section_title: Iranian dance styles
hierarchical_section_title: Dances in Iran / Iranian dance styles
caption_attribution_description: جشن های عروسی در عشایر: طاهری
context_page_description: Dances in Iran or Iranian dances are dance styles indigenous to Iran. Genres of dance in Iran vary depending on the area, culture, and language of the local people, and can range from sophisticated reconstructions of refined court dances to energetic folk dances. The population of Iran includes many ethnicities, such as Kurds, Azerbaijanis, Turkmen, Jews, Armenian, Georgian peoples, in addition to numerous Iranian tribal groups which can be found within the borders of modern-day Iran. Each group, region, and historical epoch has specific dance styles associated with it. Raghs is the Arabic word for dance, and is almost exclusively the word used for dance in Persian, as the Persian word for dance, paykubi, is no longer in common usage. It is also the word in Azerbaijani for dance. The Kurdish word for dance is Halperke, and the Lurs from Lorestan use the word Bākhten for dance.
context_section_description: This is a list of some of the ancient and contemporary Iranian dances, from various ethnic groups within Iran.
  Baba Karam, a chain dance, derived from a Sufi story whereby a servant at the court of the king falls in love with one of the harem girls and sings this song out of grief from not being able to be with her, traditionally featured male dancers but nowadays also performed by women. Baba Karam sometimes refers to contemporary Persian Hip-Hop dancing.
  Bandari dance, a chain dance, is often referred to as Persian bellydance. Bandari dance is a chain dance that often involves multiple people dancing and often perform this at parties, traveling around in a circle and sometimes stepping into the centre for a solo with encouragement from other dancers, the only variations are in the arm movements. It is a Persian dance that prevails in the South of Iran next to the Persian Gulf and has been influenced by the African and Arabic music and dance. It is a combination of rhythmic movements in various directions according to the beat of the song. The distinct feature of this dance is the way performers wave their hands in a unique manner that resembles the cooperation of a group of fishermen at the sea. The word bandari means "of the port" and is a derivation of the Persian word bandar, meaning port.
  Basseri dance is a traditional dance performed by the Basseri tribe who live in the Fars province. The dancers wear their traditional and colorful clothes.
  Bojnordi dance: Bojnord is a village in the northeast section of Iran inhabited by a Turkic people. Men and women dance separately or together in Bojnordi dance, snapping their fingers in the method known as peshkan. Dancing in a circle with running and step hop steps, the dancers may turn alternate directions facing first one side then the next, dancers sometimes facing one another. Men or women may dance and wave small colorful scarves, called dastmal.
  Choob bazi, also known as chob bazi, chub-bazi, çûb-bâzî or raghs-e choob, is a chain dance found all over Iran, performed by men with sticks, the name translates to English as 'stick play'. There are two types of Choob bazi dance styles, the first one being more combative in style, only performed by men (normally only two men, assuming the roles as the attacker and the defender) and does not appear to have a rhythmic pattern; this style is more frequently found in Southwestern Iran. The second style Choob bazi is a circle or line dance with pattern, performed by both sexes and is more of a social dance.
  Classical Persian court dances, solo dances, improvisational, often utilize delicate, graceful movements of the hands and arms with animated facial expressions are central to the concept of that difficult-to-define flirtatiousness. Persian classical dance has not been organized and codified. Thus each dancer creates her own style and improvises within a recognizably Persian framework of movements. Costumes for these types of dance feature rich silks, brocades and flowing long skirts.
  Haj Naranji dance: an upper body motion is emphasized, with hand motions, trunk undulations and facial expressions being points of attention.
  Jâheli is a dance popularized in the 1960s and 1970s by the Persian dancer Jamileh. It is part of an Iranian sub-culture that has its origins in the 9th and 10th centuries, a period when Turkic and Mongol tribes seeking pasturage and pillage formed an incursion in eastern Iran. Local, informal constabularies were formed to protect each town or village and the men of these groups, called jâhel (meaning “ignorant” in Farsi), along with women, developed a culture and dance with a mixture of street smarts and spirituality.
  Khaliji dance: a contemporary dance done in largely improvisational, performed by pairs or groups of women for their own entertainment at special celebrations, such as weddings. There is also a type of Khaliji music from the Persian Gulf region.
  Kereshmeh dance: solo, 19th Century Iranian royal court dance
  Kharman dance
  Khorasani dance
  Latar dance
  Le’b Guati: a spiritual dance by the Baluchis o
caption: Basseri dance
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