The invention of an ideal female national dancer in twentieth-century Iran *

Hailed as “ancient” (bastani), “authentic” (asil), “traditional” (sunnati), and “classic” (kilasik), the Iranian “national dance” (raqs-i milli) emerged in the creative performing arts sphere of Tehran in the early twentieth century. In the decades to follow, this genre became an artistic means to showcase the narratives of the nation through dancing bodies. Offering a genealogy of this choreographic genre, this chapter explores raqs-i milli as an artistic medium whose trajectory encompasses innovative experiments with concepts, nuances, movements, and aesthetics drawn from the “repository of Iranian national culture” throughout the twentieth century. ¹ Moreover, it examines the female national dancer as a performative subject of the nationalist stage, embodying the characteristics of the modern Iranian woman.