Haydeh Changizian
‘As I hear more of your story, I see how much the political
landscape of the many countries you lived in is woven into your
career and your journey as a ballerina. The dance world is truly
like an international family.’
Haydeh Changizian
هایده چنگیزیان
It has an edge. By the end. I see. I say it, uh, the name of Hayde. Hayde. And my family name was always, um, Changiseon. Which, uh, it comes from Chinggis Khan. And, uh, the father of the Shah, uh, made as a, uh, As a rule, that everybody should have a second name, and, uh, I don't know why my grandfather was choosing Changizian related to, uh, Chinggis Khan, which we don't, we do not have a very good memory of, uh, what, uh, Chinggis Khan was doing to Iran.
But, uh, third time that they occupied, uh, Iran, that they were a little bit more friendly and they took some, uh, habit. of Iranian people. I see. And, uh, uh, they were under influence of Iranians. I see. So, the first time and the second time when they came to Iran, they were, uh, really devastating Iran.
Her designs have been featured at prestigious venues like the Museum Rietberg and Kunsthaus Zurich in Switzerland, as well as Hauser & Wirth. She celebrated her label's 10th anniversary with a fashion show at the Nezu Museum in Tokyo. In 2016, she participated in a fashion show and talk held at the Swiss ambassador's residence in Tokyo to commemorate the 150th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Switzerland, an event graced by Empress Emerita Michiko. Her TAN Couture collection, acquired by the Swiss Confederation, the Federal Office of Culture, and the City of Zurich, is now on permanent loan at the Museum für Gestaltung Zurich and the Museum Rietberg.
Beyond her artistic achievements, Kazu is a dedicated philanthropist. Since 2011, she has been involved in restoration projects in northern Japan, partnering with Bernina Switzerland to donate sewing machines to Takata High School after the devastating earthquake, and to local sewing communities. She founded the NPO Three Cranes Association to empower women and provide sustainable job opportunities for people in unstable living situations.
During a visit to her mother, Miwako, in Arazaki, Japan, Kazu engaged in a heartfelt conversation exploring their shared memories, traditions, and creative journeys. Captured for The Forgotten Her Story, this intimate exchange reveals the profound bond between a mother and daughter, offering a glimpse into their intertwined stories.
Haydeh in Conversation with Janet
هایده در گفتگو با ژانت
TEHRAN
ایران
Falling In Love with Dance
عاشق رقص شدن
‘I got so excited to be dancing, and kept spinning and spinning,
and my skirt flew up.’
Haydeh Changizian
هایده چنگیزیان
Haydeh: The way I remember it, I moved to every kind of music that came out of our radio because, at that time, we didn’t have a television. I was dancing without any training. All I wanted to do was move.
When I was only four or five years old, our neighbour’s daughter got married. I went to the wedding with my parents. There was an Armenian entertainer singing both Armenian and Iranian songs, and I immediately started moving to his music. The only instrument he used was a tambourine.
I got so excited to be dancing, and kept spinning and spinning, and my skirt flew up. It hit the base of the bride’s dress, causing it to lift slightly. They had to change her dress, and once everything calmed down, my father said, “That’s enough. You’ve ruined the whole party. Let’s go home.” But all I could think about was how much I loved to dance in that moment.
As we were leaving, an Armenian singer approached my father and said, “You have a very talented daughter. It would be a pity if you didn’t send her to a proper school to be trained.” He recommended Madame Yelena, who would become my first ballet teacher. She was an Armenian woman who had fled the Ottomans through Bulgaria and Ukraine before settling in Tehran.
She became a second mother to me. I would sit on the floor doing my homework while her daughter played music. They were immersed in the music from different cultures—Hungarian, Kardosch, Turkish, and even flamenco.
From a very young age, I was surrounded by music from around the world.
Janet: I think it’s so interesting that your first dance teacher was a political refugee from World War II.
Was this welcomed in Iran at the time? I know Iran has a very complicated relationship with dance, but it sounds like classical ballet was being taught. What about the traditional styles of Iran? Were they celebrated in the country?
Haydeh: Very little. I remember when we first got television, everything was live, and they played music from Brazil; flamenco, and other international influences. It was a tour around the world.
Janet: So at the time, Iran was part of the international arts community. But first, let’s go back. How did you leave Iran at only fifteen years old?
Haydeh: I was approaching high school, and my father assumed I would choose literature because it was my favourite subject. But when he asked me, I told him I wanted to be a professional ballet dancer. I knew that if I waited until I finished my studies, I would be eighteen years old, and that would be too late to pursue a professional dance career.
Janet: Absolutely. I understand, a dancer is like an athlete. You need to focus on training at a young age. You can’t wait until college.
COLOGNE
کلن
Chapter name
chap name
‘I wasn’t political at all. I didn’t know anything about Russia
or the revolution.’
Haydeh Changizian
هایده چنگیزیان
Haydeh: We weren't a wealthy family, so my father took me by bus. It took one day to reach Tabriz, another day to the Iranian border, and another day from Tabriz to Turkey. From there, we travelled to Istanbul, which was the first city I saw outside of Iran. It was a big, vibrant, and fascinating place.
After three days in Istanbul, my father and I took a train to Cologne, where my brother was studying medicine. He believed I was talented, but he didn’t want me to dance because he thought I could succeed in another field.
He warned me that the life of a ballet dancer is very short—shorter even than that of a football player—and that by thirty, I would have to give it up.
I didn’t want to give up, so I told my brother, “I danced in a few places, and in Iran, people believed I had talent. Now here in Germany, they still think I do. So I’m not going to stop. I’m not going to give up.”
One day, my ballet teacher called me and told me about an annual festival. She encouraged me to prepare for it and audition. I wasn’t sure if I would be accepted, but you never know.
I went to City Hall, where a German woman was surprised because they had never had an Iranian woman apply for the program before. Out of twenty-five applicants, only two were chosen: me and one boy. and one girl.
It’s interesting because I am still in contact with the boy. He finished school and later became one of the directors of the Cologne Ballet.
Janet: No kidding! And this audition was in Cologne, correct?
Haydeh: Yes, I was accepted into the Cologne Opera House. The director was Todd Bolender.
Janet: Todd Bolender came out of Balanchine’s school, and after Germany, I think he founded Pacific Northwest Ballet. He was also with Kansas City Ballet.
Haydeh: Yes, he taught us twice a week.
We also had music training, and I had to learn to play the piano. We studied character dancing as well, because ballet is an art form that tells a story without words. We had to learn how to express ourselves purely through movement, like in Giselle. Hermione is also so famous, you know.
Our schedule was intense! Classes were from morning until six in the evening. Our entire dance community revolved around the ballet studio.
Janet: And you were also working in the evenings, right? Not only studying ballet all day to become a professional dancer, but also performing in the theater at night?
Haydeh: Some of us were chosen to be extras in the ballet company. I performed in Shakespearean ballet pieces. I learned it all on stage. I also took part in The Visit, which was later made into a film. I think Ingrid Bergman starred in it. I learned so much during that time. I also danced in Strauss’s The Blue Danube.
Janet: And then Todd Bolender offered you a job. But somehow, you ended up in Russia. How did that happen?
Haydeh: You know, I wasn’t political at all. I didn’t know anything about Russia or the revolution.
Janet: Yes, I think dance makes you a citizen of the world in a way. You’ve learned so many languages and lived in so many countries. So, why did you want to go to Russia?
Haydeh: Because I had heard they had the best ballet schools.
I told my father that I had reached my goal of becoming a professional dancer, but that wasn’t enough for me. I wanted to go to the best school in the world, which was the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet. It was founded after the time of Peter the Great, and had been around for nearly 300 years, training some of the best dancers in the world.
My father knew that I didn’t know anything about politics. At the time, Khrushchev was in power. My father had a friend who was a professor and was studying in St. Petersburg. My father went to visit this friend and said, “I have a daughter who is sixteen years old, and she wishes to go to Leningrad.”
He was very interested in knowing the name of this daughter. He said, “Haydeh has to go. I have followed her since she was a very young girl.”
He believed I was truly talented. He was a senator, and he arranged for me to get permission from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I was the first person, after a period of strained relations with the Soviet Union, to enter Russia with official permission.
1 The Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet, based in St. Petersburg, Russia, was officially founded in 1738 as the Imperial Ballet School. It was established shortly after the reign of Peter the Great as part of Russia’s broader efforts to modernize and embrace Western arts and culture.
2 The city was known as Petrograd from 1914 to 1924, Leningrad from 1924 to 1991, and returned to its original name, St. Petersburg, after 1991.
St. Petersburg
پترزبورگ
Frankfurt
فرانکفورت
Vaganova Academy
آکادمی واگانووا
‘Your life has truly been intertwined with some of the most
incredible Russian dancers of that era.’
Haydeh Changizian
هایده چنگیزیان
Haydeh: It took me three days to get from Cologne to Moscow.
We had separate classes for boys and girls. The boys focused more on jumps, height, and athletic movement, while the ballerinas focused on adagio, slow movement, and refinement. The only classes we had together were character classes and pas de deux classes, where the boys and girls danced together.
I was lucky because I was dancing most of the time with Baryshnikov. He had just arrived in St. Petersburg from Riga, and everyone was coming to watch this new phenomenon. Even now, I think he remains one of the greatest dancers in the world.
Janet: Mikhail, yes. Another legend. Your life has truly been intertwined with some of the most incredible Russian dancers of that era.
Haydeh: The Russian ballet is very different, you know.
Janet: Very different. It follows a highly structured method of teaching, unlike the Bournonville technique in Denmark or the Royal Ballet system in England. It’s all classical ballet, but each school has its own distinct approach to training.
Janet: I want to go back to your time with Todd Bolender—because after Russia, you returned to Germany, correct?
Haydeh: Yes. I wrote a letter to Todd Bolender and his partner. I said, “I don’t know if you remember me, or if you would even want me now, but I’m the one who declined your offer and went to Russia instead. Now, I’m ready to come back to Germany.”
After so many years, he wrote back. He told me he remembered me very well and would love to have me in his company. By then, he had moved from Cologne to Frankfurt.
Janet: He was a very important leader in the dance world. So, you danced in Frankfurt after that? The Frankfurt Ballet is a highly renowned company.
Haydeh: Yes, I danced there for seven years. In the beginning, I was in the corps de ballet. But after a few months, I was performing so many solo parts that they decided it was better to offer me a soloist contract rather than paying me separately for each performance. I accepted, and officially became a soloist.
Janet: What was it like finally being recognised? What set you apart once you were on stage as a soloist? I’m sure your talent played a big role in allowing you to study where you wanted. What do you think made you stand out as a dancer? What was your speciality? Was it your expressiveness? Your arabesque? What was it?
Haydeh: It was expressiveness.
Even after my first performance in Los Angeles, after just eleven months, I became the first Iranian to perform at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles. The critic who reviewed my performance wrote that my "extreme knowledge of expressiveness" was my greatest strength.
Janet: And was that your favourite part of dancing? What did you love most about it?
Haydeh: Oh, there were many things I loved. But I was never particularly fond of dancing Tchaikovsky roles. They felt too dry for me.
One of my favourite ballets was La Bayadère because, in that piece, you could exaggerate the expressiveness of your dancing, especially in the scene where there is a snake inside her basket.
I also loved performing The Fountain of Bakhchisarai, based on Pushkin’s poem. The ballet tells the story of the Crimean Tatars after the Mongols moved into Ukraine. They were portrayed as wild and passionate people, which made the performance deeply emotional and expressive.
When I was nine or ten years old, my ballet teacher gave me a free ticket to see The Fountain of Bakhchisarai. That was by Galina Ulanova and Maya Plisetskaya.
Janet: Wow. Those are renowned ballerinas. I’m sure that was incredibly inspiring for you. Maya Plisetskaya was such a dramatic actress. She was such an icon of classical ballet. The fact that your life intersected with hers is remarkable.
Haydeh: After four years, Todd Bolender decided to return to America, and we all wondered who would take over. At that time, three dancers from Stuttgart were making a name for themselves. One of them was John Neumeier.
Janet: I know that name well—John Neumeier! He’s internationally recognised as a choreographer. So, did he end up taking over your company?
Haydeh: Yes. He even went to Russia to choreograph. It was incredible that an American-born choreographer went to Russia to create a ballet there, staging Lady of the Camellias with Russian dancers. He also created Don Juan for Rudolf Nureyev.
Janet: When you worked with John Neumeier, was this in Hamburg, or were you still in Frankfurt?
Haydeh: No, I was still in Frankfurt. I was supposed to go with him to Hamburg, but in the meantime, major developments were happening in Iran.
3 Tchaikovsky’s ballets, such as Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, and The Sleeping Beauty, are considered classical masterpieces
Iran
ایران
Haydeh’s Soloist Career
حرفه تکخوانی هایده
‘Extreme knowledge of expressiveness was my greatest strength.’
Haydeh Changizian
هایده چنگیزیان
Bringing Ballet Home
vآوردن باله به خانه
‘Iran has 7,000 years of stories to tell.’
Haydeh Changizian
هایده چنگیزیان
Haydeh: Every time I visited Iran, the Minister of Culture and Art would ask me to return. They told me, “We don’t have enough women to dance the lead roles. We need you.” But I didn’t want to leave Frankfurt. I was very happy working with John Neumeier.
After ten visits to Tehran, where I performed Blue Bird, they asked me again. Eventually, I made up my mind to return and cancelled my contract.
Janet: That must not have been easy. You had to stay until everyone learned your part, right?
Haydeh: Yes, exactly.
Janet: So, you had to pass on your roles to other dancers before leaving. But your homeland wanted you back, to help bring classical ballet to Iran. And you made the arrangements to do it.
Haydeh: Yes, and then afterwards, I went back to Iran.
Janet: This was about six or seven years before the revolution, when dance became forbidden in your country. What were the most important things that happened while you were bringing classical ballet to Iran?
Haydeh: One important night, I was performing Scheherazade.
That night was significant because I spoke with the King and his wife, the wife of the Shah. She asked me, “What do you want to do with the Iranian dance company?”
I told her, “I want to change the direction of the Iranian Ballet Company. If we have stories like Layla and Majnun, which is such an important tale in Iran, written by Nezami Ganjavi, why should we only perform foreign stories like Romeo and Juliet?”
Janet: You wanted to bring Iranian culture into the ballet, rather than only performing stories from other countries?
Haydeh: Yes, I wanted to combine Iranian culture with classical ballet. I believed that was the only way for the Iranian Ballet Company to truly succeed.
If we embraced our own stories, other countries would invite us to perform and showcase parts of our history. After all, Iran has 7,000 years of stories to tell.
After speaking with the Queen, I returned to discuss my ideas with other members of the company. That evening, I noticed that Mr. Hoveyda, the Prime Minister, was also present. He seemed to be signalling that he wanted to speak with me privately.
He said to me,, “You know, I don’t understand anything about ballet. But I was watching you. Not the technique, not the movements–just your face. I could see that if you were capable of such a difficult pas de deux, then you must have already mastered the technique and moved beyond it.”
At that moment, I realised what a wise man the Prime Minister was. He told me he completely agreed with my vision– to elevate the Iranian Ballet Company to international standards while incorporating something truly Iranian, something unknown to the rest of the world.
Janet: Haydeh, it’s so important that you were recognized by the government, not just for bringing international standards to Iran but for integrating Iranian culture into classical ballet. I think this is such a significant achievement of yours.
And at that time, weren’t you also starting a school for classical ballet?
Haydeh: I felt we needed a company that was more connected to Iranian culture. That’s why I left the Iranian Ballet Company to help establish a new company, which we based in northern Iran. It wasn’t fully developed, but did have different sections for ballet, music and literature. We initially had no plans to include ballet in the structure, the company wasn’t built with ballet in mind.
Janet: So tell me about how you were developing ballet in Iran, while also bringing it to other parts of the country?
Haydeh: We were constantly travelling to different regions of Iran to perform, especially to the northern areas like Tabriz.
We wanted to introduce ballet to these communities, starting from the very basics—from the barre to center work—to help students understand the depth and elegance of this noble art form we had brought to Tehran.
At that time, we still didn’t have ballet productions based on Iranian stories, but we began working toward that goal. My first major effort was pushing for a ballet adaptation of Vis and Ramin, a Persian love story that also reflects the historical tensions between Iran and Turkey.
We did this ballet with an Iranian custom designer and an Iranian stage designer.
Janet: It sounds like you were helping classical ballet flourish in Iran while incorporating Iranian artists and dancers.
Haydeh: My goal at that time was to open a Vaganova-style ballet school. But everyone warned me against it. They told me that the Soviet Union's ambassador couldn’t even move freely around the city and that my association with him could be dangerous.
I even invited him to my home once, and I cooked a simple pasta dish for him. But otherspeople constantly kept warneding me, saying that because of Iran’s geographical proximity to the Soviet Union, that it was far too risky. They feared that the Soviet Union would use ballet as a means to spread its influence in Iran, turning people toward communism.
I was so afraid that I changed my plan. I had also realised Iranian families were not ready to send their children to a foreign country to study ballet. So, I went to visit Sir John Field, who was the director of the Royal Ballet. Before that, he had also been the director of the Italian Ballet. I proposed a system where, every six months, the Royal Ballet would send an instructor—either a man or a woman—to visit Iran, assess the students, and evaluate their progress.
If they met the standards, they would receive the same certification as if they had trained at the Royal Ballet itself.
Janet: So, you created a training system where Iranian students could earn a Royal Ballet certificate without having to leave Iran. This is just incredible, the foundation you built for classical ballet in Iran. It’s hard to believe that it all came to an end. Can you tell us about the next phase and how things began to change?
4 Sir John Field was a British ballet dancer and director. He served as a principal with The Royal Ballet and later became director of The Royal Ballet School. He was also involved with ballet companies internationally, including a directorship with the Italian Ballet.
Los Angeles
لس آنجلس
In Memory of Rudaki Hall
به یاد تالار رودکی
‘We should bring Giselle to Santa Barbara.’
Haydeh Changizian
هایده چنگیزیان
Haydeh: That’s why I left for America. As you know better than anyone, most Iranians who fled after the revolution settled in Los Angeles. That’s why I chose it.
Exactly eleven months after my arrival, I performed my first ballet. The performance was titled In Memory of Rudaki Hall. Rudaki Hall was our opera house in Tehran. I had no idea how difficult it would be. I didn’t realize that Los Angeles wasn’t like Russia, Germany, or France, or other places in the world where ballet is supported.
Here, everything had to be paid for out of pocket. Even the theater I chose for my performance required a large payment upfront. When I enrolled in a ballet school to get back in shape, people were surprised that an Iranian woman wanted to establish an Iranian ballet company in Los Angeles.
While I was teaching a class, I noticed a woman standing in the back row. She had a sharp, observant gaze. Her name was Sunny Ash. She was a lawyer for ballet companies, and after class, she approached me and asked:
“Who are you? Why have I never heard of you?”
When I explained that I was from Iran, and that I had to leave because of the revolution while in the process of establishing a second Iranian ballet company, she told me:
“You need help. You cannot do this alone.”
She visited me often and introduced me to a journalist who helped write my story for publication in Iranian and American newspapers. She also had strong connections with Santa Barbara Ballet, where she was friends with the director, Tamara Asher.
When she found out that my last performance in Iran had been Giselle, she suggested to Tamara: “We should bring Giselle to Santa Barbara.”
So, we began rehearsals. Sometimes, I had to drive three hours from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara, rehearse, and then drive back in the evening.
But in the end, the performance was a huge success. The reviews praised my interpretation, especially the mad scene in Giselle. They said that, in that moment, I truly became Giselle.
Janet: That’s wonderful.
So, you’ve been a dancer in Russia, Germany, Iran, and now America. What an incredible international journey. Finding supporters in Los Angeles must have been significant, especially since it’s a difficult city for securing support in the arts. I know you were gaining momentum there, but politics disrupted things again for you.
What was the next country you went to, and how did you end up there?
Haydeh: I started a ballet school in Bel Air, a well-known area in Los Angeles, which, unfortunately, is burning right now. I began offering free ballet classes to people who loved to dance but couldn’t afford formal training. I took my students to Royal Ballet competitions, and most of the time, they won first prize. That was very important to me. But running the school was very expensive.
Iran
ایران
Changizian Museum
موزه چنگیزیان
‘I had to replace my knees, but I’m still running!’
Haydeh Changizian
هایده چنگیزیان
Janet: So, Haydeh, is this the purpose of your museum in Tehran—to tell this story?
Haydeh: Yes. Two years ago, I moved back to Iran and found a property that could become my museum.
Janet: What does it look like? What’s inside? What’s your dream for it?
Haydeh: We opened the museum a year ago. The design was inspired by Greece, because I’ve always loved traveling there. The blue colors of Greece captivated me. Even with everything happening in Iran and America, especially with Trump’s policies, I haven’t given up hope.
I still believe that this government might eventually loosen its strict expectations around Islam, and its restrictions on women and the arts. Recently, a woman performed in a Caravanserai, without any official approval or promotion. She simply uploaded the performance online, and everyone watched it and loved it.
This gives me hope that, if I still have time and strength, I can one day open a Vaganova ballet school in Tehran.
Janet: Your dedication to dance has shaped your entire life, and I admire the way you have always found creative ways to move forward—to bring dance, support artistry, and keep going. You have inspired children, audiences, and dancers acrossaround the world.
Your determination is incredible. You weren’t just born to dance, you were born to live as a be a citizen of the world.
And even now, despite the difficult political situation in Iran, where dance is forbidden, you still fight for the beauty of dance and how it connects people. I am just so inspired by your story, and I feel honored that you are part of the global dance community—always seeking ways to bring artistry, joy, and human connection through the beauty of dance.
Haydeh: You know, I had to replace my knees, but I’m still running! Still trying to stay active, still pushing forward. And I hope there’s still time for me to finish my plan, because one thing I know for certain : Iranian people love dancing.
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