Famed Female Dancer, 24 Students Detained

Iran’s best-known female dancer and 24 students were detained on charges of dancing in public, her husband said.

Farzaneh Kaboli and her students were detained Wednesday as they were performing folk dances for an all-female audience at Tehran’s prestigious Vahdat Hall in a program authorized by the Culture Ministry, Hadi Marzban said.

Marzban said the students were freed Thursday after signing statements pledging not to perform again, but Kaboli was taken to Evin prison, north of Tehran. Iran’s hard-line clerics have said dancing promotes moral corruption.