Ionian University Supported Art Researcher Explores Indigenous Dance as Anti-Colonial Resistance

Ghazal Ramzani, a Berlin-based Iranian dancer and choreographer supported by Ionian University has completed groundbreaking research connecting indigenous dance practices to anti-colonial and ecological movements across Europe. Ramzani, who received funding through the Rewilding Cultures Mobility Conversation program in 2024, traveled by train across Europe to interview practitioners of indigenous dances rooted in resistance movements. Ramzani holds a Master of Fine Arts in Contemporary Performative Arts from the University of Gothenburg and received formal training in Kathak dance at the National School of Kathak in New Delhi. She was previously awarded the Indian Council of Arts and Culture recognition and the Artisens Vanner scholarship.

Ramzani conducted interviews in Berlin, Göttingen, Svendborg, Dublin and Cloughjordan Ecovillage and she plans to continue the project in collaboration with other artists, activists and scholars. She is considering creating a digital map of anti-colonial indigenous dances as a living archive to preserve their significance and reach broader audiences. "While many indigenous dances connected to soil, water, and ecological balance are discussed as tools for reimagining humans' relationship to environment, dances that explicitly embody resistance to colonial oppression are rarely examined through the environmental lens," Ramzani wrote in her report published May 20, 2025, by Makery.info. Check out her report here.

The Rewilding Cultures Mobility Conversation aims to initiate conversations on cultural exchange and offers grants for mobility beyond current forms of support. Ionian University served as the mentoring institution for Ramzani's grant.  Rewilding Cultures is co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union, which aims to support European projects in the field of cultural production and innovation. The partner associations include ART2M / Makery (FR), Bioart Society (FI), The Culture Yard (DK) (DK), Cultivamos Cultura (PT), Ionian University (GR), Radiona (HR) Schmiede Hallein (AT) and Projekt Atol (SI) which leads the project.