Razieh Oghabian and Sharareh Ghahremani are co-founders of Beshkan Dance Academy which was developed in 2003 in Silicon Valley. Individually, they have been teaching dance for over 20 years and have been active in and helped develop many cultural organizations in the community for the past 20+ years. They originally met as undergraduate students at UC Davis. It was there that they had their first venture as a team. With the help of five other students, they created and co-founded a student organization at UC Davis called ISCAO (Iranian Student Cultural and Aesthetic Organization). ISCAO was created tointroduce the university’s student body to the rich and beautiful cultural heritage of Iran, despite an environment of consistently negative media attention. This student organization was built with such strong values at its...

Yasaman Fathi’s first true passion was dancing, which she discovered soon after joining Beshkan Dance Academy in its opening year when she was only 5. However, her appetite for dance and artistic form expanded to ballet and was further quenched by her discovery of music. Her talented hand, knowing no bounds, mastered multiple instruments including the piano, the guitar, and Persian percussions daf and zarb. Yasaman’s zest for music did not end with her proficiency in these instruments, and even now, she aspires to master the saxophone and other instruments. This penchant for learning and mastering new forms, and love of music and dance has since extended; from assisting classes at the age of 14, to 16 when she took on teaching of her own class and not long after,...

Tannaz Azimi developed a strong passion for the arts and dance since she was very young; specifically falling in love with Iranian dance and joining Beshkan Dance Academy at the age of 3. From the very beginning, Tannaz showed determination and enthusiasm in not only learning about Iranian dance, yet the beauty of the Iranian culture and everything that it entails. As years passed, Tannaz grew to become an assistant, then head instructor, for Beshkan Dance Academy. She loves being able to teach young girls from the age of two the excitement and beauty of Iranian dance, while also being able to see her students absorb the Iranian culture and connect with their roots, just as she continues to do every year at Beshkan Dance Academy. Luckily, Tannaz will be...

Kiana Esna-Ashari fell in love with Iranian culture, specifically Persian dance, at a very young age.  She joined Beshkan Dance Academy at the age of 6 where she was introduced to Persian dance and continued her journey with the academy for many years.  During high school, Kiana took a break from dance to focus on academics but returned during her Sophomore year of college as a Teacher’s Assistant. She is now a Teacher at Beshkan working closely with ages 3 to 6.  She has shown passion, dedication, and responsibility in taking on this role and creates a fun and safe environment for her students to not only learn about Iranian dance, but also master skills and qualities that will lead them to become confident, successful women in the future. She...

Setareh (Sofia) Esna-Ashri began dancing almost as soon as she could walk on her own. She started Beshkan at age of 11 years old and has been part of the Beshkan Family for over 12 years. Setareh attended Beshkan Dance Academy for 8 years as a performer before she became a part of the teaching crew and has now been teaching for 3 years. Setareh’s love and passion for dance grows more everyday and her admiration and fascination for Iranian dance and culture has motivates her to teach and share her passion with her students. Setareh loves teaching dance because of the confidence it instills in her students and she motivates them to use that confidence to not only excel in dance, but in all aspects of their lives to...

Parmeeda Nasab’s passion has been dancing for as long as she can remember. Starting off with ballet and jazz at her old studio, Dance Academy USA, Parmeeda joined Beshkan Dance Academy at the age of 10, and she grew into the dancer she is today. Constantly traveling back and forth to Iran, she was surrounded by culture and music, therefore Iranian dance and heritage became a big part of her life. Parmeeda is not only one of our performers; she recently became a teacher and teaching assistant. Becoming an assistant brought her into a whole new form. Taking on ages 3-10, she also has discovered a love for teaching and helping children learn to perform. Aside from dancing, Parmeeda is a full-time student at West Valley College as a biology...