Above: La Bayadere, Rudaki Hall, Tehran, 1972
Below: Morgot Fontaine and Rudolf Nureyev following their performance at Roudaki Hall |
OriginsBallet made its way to Tehran back in the 1920s when a Russian immigrant known as Madame Cornelli, who had fled the Bolshevik revolution of 1917, began giving lessons in movement which concentrated on traditional Iranian folk dances. Later, Madam Yelena and Sarkis Djanbazian expanded the European influence to bring more of the traditions of classical ballet into Iran.
In 1946, Nilla Cram Cook founded the Studio of the Revival of the Iranian Ancient Arts. Cook had been the US cultural attaché at the American Embassy in Tehran, and had been employed as director general of the Arts Department at the Ministry of Education and Propaganda. Her great love of and enthusiasm for Iranian culture paved the way for the establishment of the Iranian National Ballet, as her own dance troupe toured nationally and internationally until 1953. |
In 1955, Nejad and Haideh Ahmadzadeh were appointed to start a professional ballet school. It opened just one year later and would develop into the Iranian National Ballet Company by 1958.
Nejad was the company's founding director and Haideh a principal dancer and choreographer. Shortly after, an expansion in Iran's cultural ambitions led to the creation of The Ministry of Culture and Arts, with Nejad appointed as director of the ballet academy, the ballet company and the newly formed National and Folk Music, Song and Dance Ensemble, which used the same performers but with a more nationally inspired programme. In the following years, under the guidance and care of Haideh and Nejad, the Iranian National Ballet grew in reputation, skill and prominence. Supported by Iran's royal family, the company gained further strength from the involvement of Dame Ninette de Valois, who not only visited the ballet company but encouraged key choreographers and performers from the West to teach there as well. In 1967 the company moved to its new home, the Roudaki Hall where internationally renowned dancers such as Margot Fontaine and Rudolf Nureyev came to perform. Nejad Ahmadzadeh was the company's Artistic Director from 1958 to 1976, when Ali Pourfarrokh became Artistic Director until the Iranian National Ballet was officially dissolved in 1979. Visit Iranian National Ballet on Facebook here. |
Below 1: Haideh and Nejad with the Shah at Roudaki Hall
Below 2: Haideh, Nejad and guests with Dame Ninette de Valois at Abyaz Palace, Tehran, 1962. |