Nima Kiann ( fa, نیما کیان; born January 26, 1970) is an Iranian-born Swedish ballet artist,

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

, visual artist and dance scholar. He recreated the disbanded Iranian National Ballet Company in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

and through his dance company, Les Ballets Persans, established close contacts with national ballet companies in Central Asia resulting in revival of forgotten ballets, introducing

contemporary dance Contemporary dance is a genre of dance performance that developed during the mid-twentieth century and has since grown to become one of the dominant genres for formally trained dancers throughout the world, with particularly strong popularity in ...

in some parts of the Caucasus and Central Asia and organizing the first international tours for these companies since the breakdown of the Soviet Union. Kiann is a recipient of several international

awards An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An award ...

Early life and education

Nima Kiann was born in Tehran, Iran and acquired a multi-disciplinary training in painting,

calligraphy Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

and

graphics Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of data, as in design and manufacture ...

at Tehran Fine Arts School ( fa, هنرستان هنرهای زیبای پسران تهران). At the age of seventeen and during the ongoing Iran–Iraq War, he left his native country moving first to Turkey and later to

. He entered the Gothenburg Ballet Academy in Sweden in 2001 and started his elementary ballet training at the age of twenty-one as the only male among many younger female dance students. Lia Schubert, the founder director of the academy, took him under her wing and scheduled a special classical training program for Kiann. His advancement in classical ballet resulted in dancing principal roles at Theatre Talia. Kiann received his first professional dance contract in 1994 at the Göteborg Opera (Gothenburg Opera Ballet), a year before completing his dance education at the Academy. After his graduation, he continued his dance education at

École supérieure de danse de Cannes Rosella Hightower The Ecole Supérieure de Danse de Cannes Rosella Hightower (formerly Centre de Danse International Rosella Hightower) is a dance school created by the prima ballerina Rosella Hightower in 1961 in Cannes, on the French Riviera. The school is current ...

in France and later took part in various master classes throughout Europe. His training in classical ballet was under Lia Schubert, Susanne Lindström, Anthony Ferro, Rosella Hightower, Marc du Bouaÿs, James Urban, Hassen Bahiri and László Mézsáros.

Recreation of the Iranian National Ballet Company

After a freelancing dancer career in Europe, Kiann introduced his project of reviving the Iranian National Ballet Company in 1998. The project, taking five years to be realized, resulted in the establishment of the Foundation of Les Ballets Persans in Sweden (2001). The dance company had its World Premiere in 2002 and was regarded as the most extensive Iranian artistic project ever realized in exile. L’Academie de Ballets Persans, the Forum of Persian and Middle Eastern Dance and the European Youth Dance Project, which received an international impact, are educational and scholar projects that Kiann realized within Les Ballets Persans.

Collaboration with national ballet companies in Central Asia

The World Premiere of Les Ballets Persans included two full-length ballets (Babek and Seven Beauties - 2002) of prominent

Azerbaijani Azerbaijani may refer to: * Something of, or related to Azerbaijan * Azerbaijanis * Azerbaijani language See also * Azerbaijan (disambiguation) * Azeri (disambiguation) * Azerbaijani cuisine * Culture of Azerbaijan The culture of Azerbaijan ...

choreographers Rafiga Akhundova and Maksud Mamedov. These pieces were created during the Soviet Era and had been fallen into oblivion since their excerption from the

repertoire A repertoire () is a list or set of dramas, operas, musical compositions or roles which a company or person is prepared to perform. Musicians often have a musical repertoire. The first known use of the word ''repertoire'' was in 1847. It is a l ...

of the National Ballet of Azerbaijan in 1970's and 1980's. In 2012, Kiann was appointed as the Principal Guest Choreographer of National Ballet of Tajikistan introducing his repertoire and the contemporary dance to the company and paving the way for the recently reestablished Tajik ballet for development, new performing experience and cultural exchange. The General Director of the State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre of Tajikistan, Golahmad Majidov, said in a TV reportage ''"We praise Maestro Kiann for his endeavors to introduce new and avant-garde choreographies to the dance community of Tajikistan and for organizing the first international tour for our National Ballet after the breakdown of the Soviet Union"''. Kiann organized in 2014 the first international presentation of dancers of the National Ballet of Kyrgyzstan in the West after the fall of the Soviet Union as a result of a collaboration between the Kyrgyz Ministry of Culture and Les Ballets Persans.

Academic activities

Beside his artistic practice, Kiann's cultural engagement includes directorship of several cultural associations and managing Parnian Radio in Sweden as its founder and feature editor. Kiann is the author of several multilingual scholar papers about dancing in Iran, Middle East and Central Asia and had had academic contributions to art universities in Austria, England, France, Germany, Iran, Tajikistan and the United States. The Fate of Dance in Iranian Diaspora (1999), Persian Dance and Its Forgotten History (2000), Farhang-e nām va vāzheh-gizini barāye radeh-hā-ye bāleh dar zabān-e fārsi erminology and Equivalent Terms for Ballet Titles in Persian Language(2004), History of Ballet in Azerbaijan (2005) are among his scholar productions. He has served as artistic advisor for ministries of culture, cultural organizations and festivals throughout the world, among them State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre of Tajikistan, Arts and Culture Festival of Tirgan in Canada, Culture Ministry of Kyrgyzstan, etc.

Celebration of Nima Kiann

On March 9, 2008, Toos Foundation organized a gala performance in London, at Logan Hall-University of London, to celebrate Nima Kiann on his artistic endeavors and achievements resulting in promotion and realization of Iran's most extensive artistic project ever carried out outside of Iran. The gala performance included a seminar on 3000 years of Persian dance history based on one of Kiann's vastly regarded articles: ''"The founding of les ballets persans in the year 2002 was the fruit from several years of endeavor by a young man, who is in love with his motherland as well as with its culture and history of art. Thanks to this love, he has combined what he has learnt about the art of ballet with some surviving remnants from the culture of his birthplace in order to create a colourful rainbow which represents the diverse manifestations of art in the land which nurtured him. Despite the fact that he spent only the first seventeen years of his thirty eight-year life in his homeland, his love for the motherland and constant acquaintance with its eternal culture nevertheless directed him along the difficult path of reviving and safeguarding on the most beautiful legacies of iran's art heritage. By founding the dance company of les ballets persans, Nima Kiann has in fact created a full-length mirror to reflect iran's culture, history and art in a perspective depicting an art form, which is either not known among our compatriots or is synonymous with decadence. As he himself, has said: he has had the good fortune of finding a jewel, which had fallen beneath the dust of spitefulness; and there was a need to bring back the luster to this jewel by adopting a fresh approach and by drawing a new plan. tonight we have witnessed participating members of his newly launched european youth dance project to perform ballets from Les Ballets Persans' repertoire."'' - Quotes from the Announcement Ceremony Kiann was offered the Ferdowsi Award "For his untiring efforts to give life to a forgotten Iranian cultural and artistic heritage, and for recreating and reestablishing the Iranian National Ballet through his dance company of Les Ballets Persans". ''"As Founder, Artistic Director and Principal Choreographer of Les Ballets Persans, Nima Kiann continues to create an international cultural impact, leading the most extensive Iranian artistic project ever realized outside of Iran by bringing together the talents and creative resources of distinguished artists from all around the world, with the common goal of working for the revival and enrichment of a great cultural and artistic asset. Toos Foundation salutes Nima Kiann's strong artistic vision and organizing abilities which combined have made him one of the most successful cultural administrators of Iranian community in Europe."''Celebration of Nima Kiann Gala Performance - Part 2
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Choreographies

Moving Through Secrecy (1997)
Music: Iranian Orchestra for New Music Femme (2002) - variation
Music: Hossein Alizadeh
Costumes: Nima Kiann Separation (2002)
Music: Music:

Majid Derakhshani Majid Derakhshani (Persian: مجید درخشانی) (born 13 September 1957 in Sangesar, Imperial State of Iran) is an Iranian musician and composer. He was born into a family of artists from the Iranian province Semnan, Sangesar. Subsequen ...

Vocal: Zohreh Jooya
Costumes: Doriz Simay-Jan (2002) - variation
Music:

Vocal: Zohreh Jooya
Costumes: Nima Kiann Devine Banquet (2002)
Music: Shamss Ensemble
Vocal: Shahram Nazeri
Costumes: Nima Kiann Femme (2003) - full-length ballet
Music: Hossein Alizadeh
Costumes: Nima Kiann Les étoiles (2003)
Music:

Vocal: Zohreh Jooya Costumes: Tahir Tairov Papou-Soleymani (2004)
Music:

Vocal: Zohreh Jooya
Costumes: Jamal Bon Voyage (2004)
Music:

Vocal: Zohreh Jooya
Costumes: Nima Kiann Kaveh the Blacksmith (2004)
Music:

Ahmad Pejman Ahmad Pejman ( fa, احمد پژمان ; born 1935), also spelled as Ahmad Pezhman, is an Iranian classical composer who resides in the United States. Pejman is notable for his operatic and symphonic works. Biography Born in 1935 in Lar, Ira ...

and

Mohammad Shams Mohammad Shams ( fa, محمد شمس , born 1954 in Tehran) is an Iranian composer and conductor. Born in a family of musicians, he has composed more than 650 pieces of traditional, classical and modern music. Despite the troubles an artist in ...

Vocal: Mario Taghadossi
Costumes: Jamal and Nima Kiann Scheherazade (2004) - after Fokine
Music: Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov
Orchestra: Persian International Philharmonic
Conductor:

Alexander Rahbari Ali (Alexander) Rahbari ( fa, علی رهبری; also Romanized as "Alī Rahbarī", ; born 1948) is an Iranian composer and conductor, who has worked with more than 120 European orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic and the Mariinsky Op ...

Costumes: Jamal Simay-jan the Gilani Girl (2007) - full-length ballet
Music:

Vocal: Zohreh Jooya
Costumes: Nima Kiann Rumi Rumi (2008)
Music: Shamss Ensemble
Composer: Kaykhosro Pournazeri
Costumes: Nima Kiann Turquoise Land - Dream of Peace (2008)
Music: Aref Ensemble
Composer: Parviz Meshkatian
Costumes & Tiara Design: Nima Kiann Hanging Gardens of Lost Dreams (2008)
Music:

Orchestra: Persian International Philharmonic
Conductor:

Costumes: Nima Kiann Vis and Ramin (2011)
Libretto: Maria Sabaye Moghaddam
Music: Peyman Soltani
Orchestra: Slovak National Symphony Orchestra
Conductor:

Costumes & Tiara Design: Nima Kiann Symphony of Elegy (2012) - after Fokine
Music:

Orchestra: Persian International Philharmonic
Conductor:

Costumes: Nima Kiann

Engagements

Artistic Director

*Les Ballets Persans *International Peace Culture Festival *International Ballet Master Classes Seminar

Artistic Advisor

*Ministry of Culture of Kyrgyzstan *State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre of Tajikistan *Arts and Culture Festival of Tirgan - Canada *Dance Connection - Sweden *Global Campaign for Free Expression - England

Producer

*Kiann Artist and Production Management *Forum of Persian and Middle Eastern Dance *Academie de Danse de Ballets Persans *European Youth Dance Project *International Young Artists’ Camp *manoto1 TV (Marjan Television Network)

Principal Choreographer

* National Ballet of Kyrgyzstan * Bishkek International Dance Festival - Kyrgyzstan * National Ballet of Tajikistan * Les Ballets Persans * Nowoczesne Dance Company

References

; Bibliography * Craine, Debra & Mackrell, Judith (2000). Oxford Dictionary of Dance. New York: Oxford University Press * Koegler, Horst (1987). The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Ballet. New York: Oxford University Press
Oxford Reference
* Tirgan Festival
Nima Kiann Dance Advisor

Nima Kiann; Founder of the New Iranian National Ballet in Europe
Shahrvand newspaper, Canada. 2009-10-13. Article in Persian language. * Dance Guide - European Directory of Dance * Official biography o

Marquis Who's Who

External links

*
Les Ballets PersansEastern Dance Forum
*The Global Language of Dance
An Interview with Iranian Ballet Artist Nima Kiann
(Retrieved 2013-03-23) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kiann, Nima 1970 births Living people Iranian male dancers Iranian male stage actors Swedish male stage actors Swedish male ballet dancers Swedish choreographers People from Tehran Iranian emigrants to France Iranian emigrants to Sweden 20th-century ballet dancers 21st-century ballet dancers