Haideh and her husband, Nejad founded the National Iranian Ballet Company in 1958. After an accomplished career performing and choreographing dance, they eventually settled in Manchester following the Iranian revolution. This year-long project has responded to their story, through a series of creative workshops hosted by Sheba Arts and their partners.
The core aim has been to connect Iranian and Kurdish children to their heritage whilst paying homage to a pillar of creative culture in the Iranian and Kurdish communities. Alongside these workshops, we have created an interactive online archive of both Haideh and Nejad's story and the project.
As the commissioned filmmaker, I have worked with Sheba to restore archival material, film interviews & create a series of short films to promote the project online. Beyond this, I have captured the workshops and documented the stories the children have explored.
Below is the project website + archive.