Check out this edition of The MidEast Connect. Ballet Afsaneh & myself were profiled in their NON PROFIT SPOTLIGHT profile. Click on the link below:

www.theculturalconnect.com/current.php

The MidEast Connect is a new, weekly e-magazine and website dedicated to young, driven and forward-thinking Middle Eastern professionals. Each week it profiles the talents of young individuals, companies and non-profit
organizations as well as provides headline news segmented by countries in the Middle East.

I encourage you all to check out the profile and subscribe (for free) to the e-magazine.

Thanks
Aliah

Tajik dance is a performing art form which has remained through time connected to social activities. Still today in Tajikistan, a nation deeply connected to Iran, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan through shared histories, cultures and languages, dance accompanies life cycle events such as births, weddings, funerals and holidays. Dance practices in Tajikistan have also retained a deep and vital link with spirituality, especially in the more remote mountain regions where many movements make reference to the forces of nature and the geometry of the cosmos and in Badakshan, dance still accompanies the minstrel poetry of Rumi, Hafiz, Attar and many others.

Aliah Najmabadi's career and academic focus is the preservation of the performing arts of Central Asia, Iran and respective Diaspora communities. She holds a BA degree from UCLA Iranian Studies and the World Art & Cultures programs and recently graduated with an Master's degree in Performance from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London. Aliah has been an active member of Afsaneh Art & Culture Society since 1998, as a principal dancer with Ballet Afsaneh, and serving as assistant director from 2005-2006. In 2005 Aliah completed a dance residency with Padida Dance Theater in Dushanbe, Tajikistan under the mentorship of Sharofat Rashidova. Through her graduate studies research & dance training in Tajikistan, Aliah eventually took on the role of program coordinator for TDI fieldwork in Badakhshan during 2006 and 2007. Aliah has been instrumental in the continued progress of the Tajik Dance Initiative activities through 2008 and is currently working on the development of a Performance Arts Resource Center in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

In addition to her NGO work in Central Asia, Aliah is an active performance artist, she has performed and taught dance workshops in America, England, Spain, France, Turkey, India and Tajikistan.

Please contact Aliah for performances and/or workshops at: aliaharts@gmail.com