Widespread Reactions to Dance by Narges Mohammadi and Cellmates in Prison

The dance by Narges Mohammadi and her cellmates in Evin Prison sparked widespread positive and negative reactions.

Videos circulating on social media showing Narges Mohammadi and her cellmates dancing in prison reveal a dispute over the meaning of resistance in Iranian prisons, generating a wave of diverse positive and negative reactions on social platforms.

French magazine ELLE had conducted an exclusive interview with Narges Mohammadi, a political prisoner and Nobel Peace Prize winner, in which Ms. Mohammadi announced the publication of two books—one a biography of herself and the other addressing sexual harassment and oppression of incarcerated women—which are ready for publication in Iran.

Hours after Narges Mohammadi’s interview with French magazine ELLE was published, a video of her dancing circulated widely on social media, showing Narges dancing with other prisoners. This sparked a wave of reactions in Persian and other languages regarding her interview, with reactions sharply contradicting each other. In the interview, Narges specifically stated that she has documented several cases of sexual harassment against women political prisoners.

Critics, responding to the video, accused her of “whitewashing Islamic Republic prisons,” being “a project,” and “lying about her health condition.” In contrast, others, including “Layla Hassanzadeh,” said: “This dance is also a form of resistance.”

Individuals such as Atifeh Charmahali, a member of the Iranian Writers’ Association, political prisoner, and child rights activist, expressed why such a film should exist against prisoners. “Massoumeh Naseri” also posted a message on the social network X in this regard: “In a country where living is forbidden, what happens in this video is also struggle. Unveil, let your hair loose, let it loose, let it loose / My love, don’t be afraid, laugh, protest with tears.”

The video of Narges dancing in an orange and yellow dress is one of two images that circulated widely on social media in recent days. In the video, Narges initially begins singing a song at someone’s request, using words of love, kiss, and love day, and finally dances.

In another video, Narges dances with her cellmates, and together they encourage each other while shouting: “Freedom, freedom, freedom.”

On social media, anonymous profiles responding to the video of Narges dancing said: “Sepideh Ghaleyan speaks with Mohammadi in the first part of the video, but we cannot see her face and do not know.”

The Islamic Republic, in various ways, prevents women’s faces from appearing even in social media communications. Among banned women, “Zeinab Zaman” can be mentioned, who faced bizarre judicial sentences including “social and political boycott” for five years merely for posting a few tweets. Now, the release of a video of prisoners dancing could be a winning step for the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement.

Journalist “Amirhossein Mosali” also posted a tweet regarding this video: “Value-oriented and revolutionary accounts have circulated a film secretly taken of imprisoned women political prisoners to discredit Narges Mohammadi, who sings and dances with other female fighters, but fools do not know that this very action reminds us of the final scene of the film Papillon, which says: I am still alive.”

Narges Mohammadi has repeatedly attempted to change the prison environment through activities such as dancing. In her interview with magazine “L,” she said: “For Iran’s political prisoners, there is no space for normalcy. Except for the fact that innocent people are arbitrarily imprisoned. Solitary confinement here is one of the most common torture tools. This is where political prisoners die. Personally, I have documented various cases of torture and severe sexual violence against my cellmates. Despite all of this, for us political prisoners, there is a challenge of resistance to preserve a normal space, because in this way we show our torturers that they cannot reach into us, cannot break us. In the face of violence and the sense of death they want to impose on our existence, life must always triumph. Preserving morale is the key to enduring deprivation, separation from loved ones, and violence.”