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Natalie Nayun
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Natalie Nayun is an international teacher and performer specializing in contemporary and folkloric styles from Central Asia and the Middle East. She is lucky enough to have studied dance in her travels to Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Oman. She is a well known soloist and the Assistant Director of Ballet Afsaneh. She is also a choreographer for the UC Berkeley Central Asian and Middle Eastern Dance Company, Sorayya, and former director of Adara Dance Company.
She has received numerous grants and awards for her research and dance studies including the HAAS Scholar award, CLS, FLAS Award for Persian Language study, Mask & Dagger Memorial Prize for Extraordinary Contributions and more. During her travels she has done residencies with dance companies in both Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and travels to these countries every other year to work with companies, conduct research and dance daily. She is grateful to her teachers Faroghat Saidova, Salomat Raxmonova, Dilorom Madraximova, Gulmira Madraximova, Safarbeki Rachabzoda, Robyn Friend, Helia Bandeh, and many more for sharing their deep knowledge and love of dance.
Natalie has performed and taught dance in Argentina, Chile, Peru, Palestine/Israel, New Mexico, as well as locally in California at UC Berkeley and as a guest lecturer at Stanford. She currently teaches dance through Afsaneh Dance Academy and DanceVersity. Her hope is to share the beauty in these regions of the world through dance.
Natalie performs many styles of Tajik dance including Kulobi, Shashmaqam and Badakhshan/Pamiri dance. She has traveled to Tajikistan to study dance extensively for two summers. She was awarded multiple grants to conduct Dance Ethnology research in 2015 and 2018.
Natalie performs different styles of Uzbek Dance including Khorezm, Bukharan, Andijon Polka, and Ferghana. She is dedicated to continue learning this dance form by traveling to Uzbekistan annually to continue her intense study of this beautiful and technical dance.
Afghan dance is an upbeat and fun style. The dresses are colorful and fun! Some styles include: Attan, what is now known as the National dance of Afghanistan; Logari, a dance with abrupt stops; and other styles.
Natalie performs both modern and folkloric styles of Persian and Iranian Dance. Some of the styles she performs include: Neoclassical Persian dance, Qajar Style, Qassemabadi, Bandari, and Qash'qai. Some of her main teachers include Robyn Friend, Miriam Peretz, Medea Mohdavi, Helia Bandeh, Shahrzad Khorsandi, Sharlyn Sawyer, and more.