The Basics
Salam! My name is Monelli and I was born in Tehran, Iran and moved to Toronto when I was 7. From a very early age, I was surrounded by music, poetry, and dancing. I draw from many forms of dance including traditional and modern Persian dance, belly dancing, latin, hip hop, Indian and Afro.
I worked in the corporate world for 16 years until the arrival of my son in 2016. I decided to take a new direction in life and left the corporate life and hustle and bustle behind. I moved to PEI, to slow down and enjoy the country and find my roots. It has been a beautiful journey and I’m so excited to share my experiences with you all! Come say hi, stay for a dance party or two or join me on a journey to empower yourself and make your dreams come true!
Love ~ Monelli
Persian dance is a style of dance that comes from Iran. Monelli Rahmatian was born in Tehran, Iran and moved to Toronto, Canada at age 7. For Monelli, dancing is an inward and healing journey—closing her eyes, listening to the rhythm, and allowing her body to create magic. In these videos, Monelli dances for us, shares about her experiences with dance and what it means to her, and teaches us some basic Persian dance moves.
Instead of following a strict choreography, once you learn some of the basic steps of Persian dance, you are invited to put them together however you like! Monelli describes the basic dance steps as follows:
Arms out to your sides- slow rotation of hands and arms, add shoulder movement
Step in place- hips side to side
Shoulder shimmy
Hand to forehead and one shoulder shimmy and switch sides, back and forth to the rhythm
Hip play
Wave with hands, flowing movements graceful like the wind through the trees
Spinning with one foot and then the other and on your tippy-toes
Persian snapping - Beshkan (Persian: بشكن)
Remember to smile and feel into the music and have fun!
The song that Monelli invites you to dance along with her to is called “Bahaar” by Martik.
There are three songs featured in her teaching video. They are, in order, “Bahaar” by Martik, “Didi Goftam” by Farshid Amin, and “To Ke Eyde Mani” by Benyamin Bahadori.
A Note for Teachers
It is recommended that you and your learners view Monelli’s teaching video first, trying out some of the basic Persian movements she uses, before joining in to dance along with her in the video called “Dance Along with Monelli Rahmatian.” At the end of this video, Monelli leads us in some calming breaths and a reflection on the dancing experience you have just shared together—this is an important part of the experience. Ask your learners: “How did you feel before the dance began? How do you feel now?”
Extension Activities
Jumping over the candle
This is considered a purification practice to start the New Year. For safety, an electric candle will work just fine! Learners line up and take turns jumping over the “candle” while the music plays as seen in the video.
This is what we say as we jump over the fire:
zardi-ye man az to - literal translation: my paleness yours (all my sickness, yellowness all that is not serving us to the fire)
sorkhi-ye to az man - literal translation: let your redness be mine (may your warmth, good energy and vitality be mine)
Watch how the learners at Montague Consolidated do it below:
Beshkan (Persian: بشكن)
As Monelli shares in her videos, Beshkan (Persian: بشكن), also known as the "Persian snap", is a traditional Iranian finger snap requiring both hands. The snapper creates a crackling/clicking noise similar in mechanism to the normal snap but louder in practice. More resources about Beshkan can be found on the Oliver’s Song website.
Persian Words and Numbers
Monelli also shares some facts about Persian words and numbers:
Iranian's text is read and written right to left
Numbers are read and written left to right
We have one day a week off in Iran and that is on Friday.
Here are the names of the week in Iran:
Hafteh (7) week
Saturday: Shanbeh first day of the week is Saturday
Sunday: Yeh Shanbeh (yeh is 1)
Monday: Doo Shanbeh (doo is number 2)
Tuesday: Seh Shanbeh and so on seh-3
Wednesday: Chahaar Shanbeh 4
Thursday: Panj Shanbeh 5
Friday: Jumeh last day of the week and the only day you get off in Iran. Some may work half day on Thursday to get a longer weekend :)
About Monelli
Monelli was born in Tehran, Iran and moved to Toronto, Canada at age 7. From a very early age, she has been surrounded by music, poetry, and dancing. She draws from many forms of dance including traditional and modern Persian dance, belly dancing, latin, hip hop, Indian and Afro. For Monelli, dancing is an inward and healing journey—closing her eyes, listening to the rhythm, and allowing her body to create magic. Monelli arrived on the Island in 2017, and over the last two years has been taking her Persian dancing to the next level, performing for DiverseCity Multicultural Festival and Iranian New Year (Nowruz) events on the Island. Monelli worked on an exciting and wonderful initiative with ArtsSmarts, working on a pilot project to bring more diversity into Island music classrooms through Persian dance. Monelli’s excitement for dancing is contagious and brings joy to all that see her perform.
DiverseCity Festival Performance- June 2020
ArtSmart Project- March-May 2021
Arsenal Mills - Cry No More music video June 2021
DiverseCity Festival Performance- July 2021
Wild Oyster Commercial with Furrow-July 2021
MC for Discover Charlottetown Kent Street Festival-Oct 2021
Dance, when you’re broken open.
Dance, if you’ve torn the bandage off
Dance in the middle of fighting.
Dance in your blood.
Dance when you’re perfectly free.
~Rumi
