Dancing is defiance against Iranian regime

The Islamic Republic has always frowned upon dance but recently even a simple choreographed or ‘synchronized movement’ – as the regime calls it – has become an act of protest.

Last week on International Women’s Day, a 40-second video of five young women in loose clothing and without the mandatory headscarf dancing in Tehran’s Ekbatan neighborhood to the song “Calm Down” by Selena Gomez and Nigerian singer Rema went viral, prompting the regime’s security forces to start a hunt for the teen girls.

The video was published on Instagram by the trainer of the troupe, who was the first victim to be identified and forced to remove the video and deactivate her page. The following day, Shahrak Ekbatan Twitter account, which covers news about the neighborhood, warned that police were looking for the teenagers. 

The neighborhood has been an epicenter of ongoing protests ignited by the death of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old woman who died in September 2022 while in police custody following her arrest for not wearing her headscarf “properly.”

The account later reported that the five girls were initially summoned and received a warning, and later, called in again and detained for two days before being pressured into making a video of forced confessions and expressing remorse.

After news of the manhunt for the teenagers broke out, people from Iran and other countries started releasing videos of themselves dancing to the same tune to express solidarity and support for the Iranian girls.

Prominent Iranian human rights defender and currently a political prisoner, Narges Mohammadi, republished the video of the dance on social media on Tuesday, saying women's singing and dancing is a form of feminine presence in the streets. 

This is a right which should not be suppressed, she noted. Earlier in the week, actor-cum-activist Golshifteh Farahani also published the video of the dance, with the caption, "Nothing can stop the freedom of Iranian women. Nothing can stop the freedom of all human beings."

The simple act of dancing on streets is construed as “defiance” against the Islamic Republic, so are many other simple things in Iran since the regime tends to label anything it deems “critical” or “improper” as a security threat.

The five teenagers are not the only victims of the Islamic Republic’s opposition to dancing and singing. Islamic laws in Iran forbid dancing, although many people dance during family gatherings in their homes. 

Even using the word “dance” is forbidden in all media platforms and publications in all sorts in Iran. A state-TV host was banned in 2021 after a guest on her program mentioned the word “dancing.”