Dance art in the artistic design of titles of Iranian cinema

Abstract

Iranian dance is distinguished by a number of specific features, one of which is the graceful movements of the hands, wrists, and legs, combined with lively facial expressions and body posi tions. The refined, intricate, and flirtatious gestures and symbols of Persian courtiers, solo, im provisational dances, and the spiritual dance of Sufis reflect the richness of Persian culture. After the 1979 revolution, in accordance with the new revolutionary realities, dance in Iran came under restrictions. However, dance art as a pillar of Persian culture remains an important social phe nomenon for the nation, transforming and flowing into other types of art. Using the titles of Irani an films created after the 1979 revolution as examples, this paper traces the designers’ appeal to the dance heritage of Iran and reveals the similarity of the design of film credits with the basic elements of choreography, in particular, ballet, theater, and folk dance. The title is considered as a product of complex design (sound design, kinetic typography, animated graphics), whose fundamental elements (composition, color, visual forms of communication) are similar to the ba sis of choreographic / ballet art (dance movements, costumes, background). When designing film credits, Iranian designers use references to dance movements (circular, spiral, improvisational), movements of hands, legs (arabesque, petit allegro, folk dances of Khorasani, Bakhtiari, Keshmeh kermanji), fingers, hips, neck, and shoulders (urban dance of jakheli). It is revealed that such borrowings simplify for Iranian designers the task of preparing the viewer for the perception of a movie.