In Search of Traces: Linkages of Dance and Visual and Performative Expression in the Iranian World

Authors

Anthony Shay, Pomona CollegeFollow

Document Type

Article

Department

Dance (Pomona), Theatre (Pomona)

Publication Date

1998

Keywords

Iran, solo improvised dance, calligraphy

Abstract

In this essay, the author analyzes the way in which Iranian solo improvised dance, a form of expression considered the least of the arts, if an art form at all, by the majority of Iranians, shares formal esthetic and performative aspects with visual art forms through the use of geometry and other performative expressions, such as music and traditional theater, through the use of improvisation. To stress the commonality between the various forms of art, Shay selects calligraphy as the most honored and esteemed art to demonstrate the common features, thus destabilizing the traditional hierarchy of “high” and ‘low” artistic expression.

Rights Information

© 1998 Informa UK Limited, an Informa Group Company

Terms of Use & License Information

Terms of Use for work posted in Scholarship@Claremont.

DOI

10.1080/08949468.1998.9966738

Recommended Citation

Shay, Anthony. “In Search of Traces: Linkages of Dance and Performative Expression in the Iranian World,” Visual Anthropology 10 (Fall, 1997), pp. 335-360. doi: 10.1080/08949468.1998.9966738