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Travel to the Persian Gulf in the south of Iran with Nikki Farahanchi (IG: @nikki.dancee) as you learn the lively and celebratory Persian dance form called Bandari. Inspired by her summer trips to Iran, Nikki has been studying, teaching, and performing Persian dance since 2017. Recognized by its iconic symbol of jazz hands (or as Iranians say Bandari hands), this traditional dance style is a fun, loving, and freeing form of movement, typically performed at weddings and other celebratory events. Coming from the sea ports and fisher towns, the Bandari dance has been heavily influenced by Arab and African culture, making it a melting pot of dance styles and a truly a dance of the people. This workshop will immerse you into the history of the dance, cover classic Bandari movements, as well as a series of combos that will be used in an exciting choreography that you can take home and continue practicing with. Don’t miss out on this special opportunity to learn a unique and different art form! Hope to see you in class! :) BIO: Nikki Farahanchi is an Iranian dance specialist. She is a lover and learner of all styles of Persian dance and bellydance, inspired by her own Iranian American identity and summer travels to Iran. Currently, she is a Persian Dance Instructor at Pardis for Children, a Manhattan Persian cultural immersion school. Prior to that, she was the choreographer and creative director of the Persian Students Association dance group and Arabesque bellydance troupe at University of Michigan from 2019 to 2022. Nikki has a passion for teaching the art of Middle Eastern dance to her community and has taught dance workshops to youth, students, and adults for the past seven years. To see past performances and current projects, you can find her dance page on IG at @nikki.dancee.