ID :
97753
Sat, 01/02/2010 - 01:57
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Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/97753
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Iran’s first female naqqal appeared 30 years ago in Sanandaj
TEHRAN, Jan. 1 (MNA) -- Naqqali, a dramatic performance accompanied by traditional Iranian music, is thought to be a pivotal element in Iran’s traditional forms of narration.
Selected epics by Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh and Nizami Ganjavi are the primary sources for narration in Naqqali and some believe the art form is an ancestor of Iran’s dramatic arts that is deeply rooted in our culture.
Naqqali was infused into our culture in the alleys and teahouses where men recited sorties of Shahnameh for men, since teahouses used to be men’s favorite haunts in those formative years.
In older times, men were the narrators of these epics, but gradually over the years and particularly over the last 30, women seem to have found an interest in naqqali.
To find the first Iranian female narrator, one must go back 30 years to Sanandaj in Kordestan Province, where Farahnaz Karimkhani was a 15-year-old student at Mastureh Ardalan School.
“When I was studying in my first year of high school, I entered a naqqali competition and won first place. I then went to Ramsar and entered a national naqqali contest and again came in first,” she told the Persian service of CHN.
On how she began to like naqqali, she said, “Once, I heard a narration of story from Shahnameh and really liked it, so I began to read more and more of Shahnameh.
“I first saw naqqali on TV before the (Islamic) revolution in which a morshed (mentor) and a little child playing the role of little morshed used to perform. I enjoyed their way of performing and thought to myself that I had to imitate men when performing naqqali. So I began to memorize Shahnameh and perform like a man for my parents.
“I then performed in school and once again came in first. They took photos of me while I was performing, so there must be documents of my narrations at school somewhere.
“But after the revolution, I put naqqali aside and never practiced it again. But after all these years, I realized that it was still on my mind. I even thought of methods in which naqqali could be told in a female form of narration. I believe women have smoother and softer feelings and can give new forms of expression to naqqali. Since women can narrate ordinary tales with great depth of feeling and emotions, they surely can do an excellent job of narrating our epic stories,” she added.
An example of this is Fatemeh Habibizad. Also known as Gordafarid, she is a graduate of the Cultural Heritage University and currently teaches Shahnameh narration at the University of Fine Arts in Tehran.
She began her research activities in the year 2000 and is known as the contemporary female narrator of Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh.
Selected epics by Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh and Nizami Ganjavi are the primary sources for narration in Naqqali and some believe the art form is an ancestor of Iran’s dramatic arts that is deeply rooted in our culture.
Naqqali was infused into our culture in the alleys and teahouses where men recited sorties of Shahnameh for men, since teahouses used to be men’s favorite haunts in those formative years.
In older times, men were the narrators of these epics, but gradually over the years and particularly over the last 30, women seem to have found an interest in naqqali.
To find the first Iranian female narrator, one must go back 30 years to Sanandaj in Kordestan Province, where Farahnaz Karimkhani was a 15-year-old student at Mastureh Ardalan School.
“When I was studying in my first year of high school, I entered a naqqali competition and won first place. I then went to Ramsar and entered a national naqqali contest and again came in first,” she told the Persian service of CHN.
On how she began to like naqqali, she said, “Once, I heard a narration of story from Shahnameh and really liked it, so I began to read more and more of Shahnameh.
“I first saw naqqali on TV before the (Islamic) revolution in which a morshed (mentor) and a little child playing the role of little morshed used to perform. I enjoyed their way of performing and thought to myself that I had to imitate men when performing naqqali. So I began to memorize Shahnameh and perform like a man for my parents.
“I then performed in school and once again came in first. They took photos of me while I was performing, so there must be documents of my narrations at school somewhere.
“But after the revolution, I put naqqali aside and never practiced it again. But after all these years, I realized that it was still on my mind. I even thought of methods in which naqqali could be told in a female form of narration. I believe women have smoother and softer feelings and can give new forms of expression to naqqali. Since women can narrate ordinary tales with great depth of feeling and emotions, they surely can do an excellent job of narrating our epic stories,” she added.
An example of this is Fatemeh Habibizad. Also known as Gordafarid, she is a graduate of the Cultural Heritage University and currently teaches Shahnameh narration at the University of Fine Arts in Tehran.
She began her research activities in the year 2000 and is known as the contemporary female narrator of Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh.
