Routledge Gender and Dance in Modern Iran - Biopolitics on Stage

Gender and Dance in Modern Iran: Biopolitics on Stage examines how dancing bodies have served as cultural evidence for competing visions of modernity, urbanism, and religiosity throughout the twentieth century. This scholarly work by Routledge traces the transformation of staged dancing bodies across diverse performance contexts, from the Pahlavi era's national artistic scene through popular cafe and cabaret stages to commercial cinema and post-revolutionary Islamized theatre. The book explores how spectatorial ideology and performance spaces have shaped the cultural meaning of dance in Iran, offering critical analysis of the body's role in representing and negotiating modern Iranian identity across political and social transitions.