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Rana Gorgani is a Franco-Iranian choreographic artist known for her singular approach to Sufi dance and whirling. Turning dervish in a practice long transmitted by men, she has been developing for more than fifteen years an artistic language where the body becomes at the same time an instrument of presence, a space of transmission and creative material.
Born in 1984 in Germany to an Iranian mother and a Kurdish father, Rana Gorgani grew up in France, where she now lives.
His path begins with music. At a very young age, she discovered the daf, a drum on a sacred frame of Kurdish origin, which became her first gateway to Sufi spirituality.
Trained in drama, Rana Gorgani also studied philosophy before deepening her approach with a Master's degree in ethnomusicology and anthropology of dance.
Her research led her in particular to the Qashqa'i, a nomadic people of Iran, whose art of living nourishes her reflection on transmission, the sacred, the body and belonging.
In 2009, she founded the company The Persian Eye, the first entity in Europe dedicated to safeguarding, transmitting and promoting the dances of the Persian world.
Since then, she has developed an artistic, educational and spiritual work, in collaboration with institutions, musicians, choreographers and international scenes.
Rare woman to publicly wear the Sufi dance, she raises the Samâ — the dance of the whirling dervishes — to the rank of living art, at the crossroads of ritual, poetry, music and contemporary creation.
As a female whirling dervish, she opens up a rare space: that of a female body that publicly assumes a practice long reserved for men, while respecting the spiritual depth of tradition.
International Festival, Lebanon
Al Burda Festival
In 2024, Rana Gorgani was selected to carry the Olympic flame to Paris. She carries this flame in tribute to the Iranian people and the "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement, making this gesture a symbol of memory, courage and freedom for Iranian women.
”Dancing can become an act of resistance.”
For the past two years, it has opened a new field of research around "the trace". This research extends his work on Sufi dance.
This exploration unfolds in parallel with the writing of a novel, nourished by its journey, its link to Iran, Sufi spirituality and the place of women in mystical traditions.
Rumi
Nicknamed sometimes the "pope of the Sufi dance", Rana Gorgani prefers to recognize herself in these words. Today, she pursues a work that connects East and West, the feminine and the sacred, tradition and contemporary creation.
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