Biography

Nazanin Badiei, Choreographer, performer, dance instructor and author of “Unveiling The Secrets of Persian Dance” was born and raised in Iran where she started learning classical Persian dance at the tender age of seven under the direction of Hayedeh Kishipour.

She continued learning a variety of Persian Folklore dances, such as the Azari, Bojnordi, Kordi, Ghasem Abadi and Bandari. She gradually grew in reputation after becoming a member of a renowned group of Persian dancers called “Shiftegan-e-Del”. During the 1990s, when she was a teenager, she had several performances in the most famous event hall in Iran; “Talar-e-Vahdat”. In her mid-twenties, she started choreographing and performing pieces that were completely her own.

After she moved to Los Angeles in 2010, she decided to further her formal education of dance choreography by enrolling at Santa Monica College. Later on, she was introduced to the Global Motion Dance Company at the school. Once she became a prized member of the company, Nazanin brought Persian dance for the first time to their show, presenting it to a diverse, mostly non-Iranian audience.

Nazanin has now been a professional performer, choreographer and Persian dance teacher for over ten years. She has taught both traditional and social Persian dancing to students of all ages. Being a professional dancer and instructor has been incredibly rewarding to her. "I share my passion with every one of my dancers. I show them not only how to move, but how to connect with the music and the culture,” she says.