Iranian of the Day

SkillsForChange.org, Canada -- For as long as he can remember, Sashar Zarif has been a dancer -- and an activist. As an artist, he has a commitment to "contribute to social and individual expression concerning pressing cultural issues: issues that impact the health of our society, our environment and our individuality -- including the well-being of our souls." His belief that the artist can create works that "express and promote the human urge towards living in harmony" has led him to extensive research and field work in dance and music ethnology throughout Central Asia, Eurasia and the Near East. Through teaching and performing - from Mongolia in the east to Europe and across South and North America - he has widely reflected and represented Canadian diversity.

Eighteen months after arriving in Canada, Sashar received an award from the East York Board of Education for his contribution to multiculturalism and diversity at Eastern High School of Commerce, where he was finishing his schooling. In 1993, he founded and directed the Sashar Zarif Dance Theatre and the Canadian Academy of Azerbaijani Dance. In 2001, Sashar founded, and continues to direct, Dancers for Peace, an international festival reflecting a vision of hope and peace that transcends barriers between nations, races and religions. In 2003, he was awarded the Chalmers Professional Development Grant and in 2004, he received his MA from York University, Faculty of Fine Arts, in Dance and Dance Ethnology. That same year, he began teaching at York University with the Dance Department, Faculty of Fine Arts, where he started a successful credit course called "Introduction to World Dance Practices: Dances of North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia">>> Full text