Farzaneh Kaboli (Persian: فرزانه کابلی, romanized: Farzâneh Kâboli; born (1949-05-02)2 May 1949 in Tehran) is an Iranian dancer, choreographer, and actress. She is a leader in the Iranian Folkloric and National Dance Art,^[1] and a master of choreography in Iranian theaters.^[2]

Farzaneh Kaboli was born and raised in Tehran, Iran.^[1] Both of her parents were musicians.^[1] Her uncle was Ali Asghar Garmsiri, a pioneer of Iranian theatre, and her uncle Houshang Shokati was a famous Iranian singer.^[1]

Kaboli studied in the "Iranian National and Folkloric Dance Academy" for three years starting at age 18, it was the school for the National Folklore Society of Iran.^[3][4] The Academy had acquired some of the best dance instructors and choreographers in the world and Robert de Warren and his wife Jacqueline from England were the primary instructors.^[1][3] She eventually became a principal dancer for the school dance company, Mahalli.^[4]

She had been a famous ballerina prior to the Iranian Revolution, but in 1979 she was no longer allowed to dance in Iran.^[5][4] After the revolution, she taught private dance classes in her Tehran apartment as part of an underground dance movement.^[3][5][6] Performing in dance public after the revolution meant the risk of being jailed or fined.^[4] In the summer of 1998, Kaboli returned to the stage in Iran at Vahdat Hall for the first time in 22 years, alongside her students.^[5] She had started her own dance company in 1999, Harekat and performed for all female audiences within embassies.^[4]

Kaboli has had many notable dance students, including Ulduz Ahmadzadeh, and Ida Meftahi.^[6][4]

Apart from dancing, Kaboli is an actress, which she started after the Iranian Revolution.^[4] Her first major role as an actress was in the play titled: All My Sons by Arthur Miller, directed by Akbar Zanjanpour. She supported actors and actresses such as Khosrow Shakibayee, Hady Marzban and Soraya Ghasemi in that play. She played a leading role in Hadi Marzban's production of Memoirs of the Actor in a Supporting Role (1982).^[7]

• Iranian cinema
• Iranian folk music
• Persian dance