"Today we are looking forward to our second decade with the same
central concepts, with new lessons learned along the way and a burning passion for dance that
will continue shining on our performances." - Nima Kiann
One of Iran's most important cultural and artistic institutions, The Iranian National Ballet based in Tehran's Roudaki Hall Opera House, was founded in 1958 and through its twenty years of existence until 1979 introduced a varied repertoire of classical and contemporary ballet. Les Ballets Persans is the recreation of the former Iranian National Ballet and presented its World Premiere on October 7, 2002 in Stockholm, Sweden.
In 1998, the ballet artist and choreographer Nima Kiann started to realize his long-lasting vision of recreating the former Iranian National Ballet with a new concept. Five years later in 2001, thanks to his efforts and energy, the new dance company was officially established and the production of the company’s premiere performance started in collaboration with international performing and visual artists.
In 2001, the Culture Minister of Sweden, Ms. Marita Ulvskog, expressed her appreciation for the establishment of the company: "... Please allow me to express my admiration for the energy and purposefulness with which you are equipped in order to pursue this project. To give life to an artistic tradition after more than twenty years of interruption demands willpower of the kind that only an indomitable yearning can give. This yearning to recreate what was can be difficult to understand for us, who are not sharing the painful experience that often is behind..."
The world premiere production of the company involved 106 participants from 22 countries and has been referred to as the most extensive Iranian artistic project being realized outside Iran. Les Ballets Persans is today an international touring ballet company devoted to present dance productions inspired from the eastern cultures to the western ballet repertoire. As promoter of eastern ballets and for the first time in the West, the company revived and presented two ballets from the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan: Babek and Seven Beauties.
Designed and promoted by the company's Artistic Director Nima Kiann, Les Ballets Persans introduced the European Youth Dance Project (EYDP) in 2007, supported by Swedish and international authorities/organizations.
On March 9th, 2008, Toos Foundation organized a Gala Performance in London to celebrate the works and artistic achievements of Nima Kiann through his three decades of artistry. An enthusiastic audience of more than 1000 encouraged him during the three and a half hour long Gala Performance with 24 times of standing ovations. He received his Award from the founder of Toos Foundation "For his untiring efforts to give life to a forgotten Iranian cultural and artistic heritage, and for recreating and reestablishing the Iranian National Ballet through his dance company of Les Ballets Persans".
In 2012 Les Ballets Persans' artistic director Nima Kiann was invited to Tajikistan as Tajik National Ballet's Principal Choreographer to introduce his repertoire of neoclassical and contemporary ballet. Kiann created exclusive choreographies for Tajik National Ballet and for the first time introduced the contemporary dance to the dance community and audiences in Dushanbe. As the first appearance of the National Ballet of Tajikistan in the West since the fall of the Soviet Union, Nima Kiann brought the company to Europe and paved the way for the recently reestablished Tajik Ballet for development, new performing experience and cultural exchange.
As a continuation of introducing a new dance repertoire in countries throughout Central Asia, artistic director Nima Kiann visited Kyrgyzstan in 2014. In a co-production with the National Ballet of Kyrgyzstan, Les Ballets Persans produced a dance perfromance for Marjan Television Network's (manoto1 TV) Nowruz program. The production was supported by the Culture Ministry of the country and Kyrgyzstan's Minister of Culture, Mr. Sultan Rayev. In a press conference along with Ms. Baktygul Belekova, Deputy Culture Minister of Kyrgyzstan, artistic collaboration and cultural exchange between Les Ballets Persans and National Ballet of Kyrgyzstan was announced. After organizing Kyrgyz National Ballet's first artistic visit to Europe, some choreographies from Les Ballets Persans' repertoire have been performed at Bishkek International Dance Festival.
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