heather akbarzadeh

Commissioned to create an Iranian dance module for grades K - 5. - Responsibilities included: Creation of 4 Iranian dance choreographies consisting of two grade-appropriate levels (employing principles of the California Academic Content Standards for Dance); Creation of lecture and visual materials consisting of geography, language, religion, history, arts, dance costuming, and musical instruments.

Coordination of Golden Thread Productions' ReOrient 2012 Forum - Part of Golden Thread Productions' month-long ReOrient Festival of short plays from/about the Middle East, the ReOrient Forum brought together theater/performance artists, activists, and scholars in dynamic dialogues about Middle Eastern and Middle Eastern-American theatre and performance. - Responsibilities included: development of forum content (panel topics and descriptions), coordination of 35 panelists (recruitment, bios, travel and accommodation needs, tech needs, on-site contact during forum), sponsorship requests, recruiting and overseeing volunteers, on-sight coordinator during the two-day forum, MC during forum (public speaking).

* Recruited and coordinated local/national dance performers * Acted as liaison between Seattle Center (festival site) and performers in terms of tech needs * Onsite coordinator and stage manager day of festival * managed 50+ performers (dancers, musicians, poets * adults and children) during festival day

45th Street Homeless Youth Clinic - Outreach worker and advocate

* Performance curatorial experience culminating in a two-day event featuring performance artist Amir Baradaran – UC Berkeley, CA - Marry Me to the End of Love – Participatory performance installation by Baradaran - “FutARism: The Possibilities of AR in Art-making” – Lecture by Baradaran Responsibilities as sole curator included: Conceiving of event content * fundraising * development of promotional materials * coordination of performance and lecture spaces * coordination of artist needs (travel and accommodation) * recruiting and managing interns, photographer, and videographer * assisting in the installation for performance * participating as lead discussant during lecture * participating as performer in performance

* Seattle Education Access is a non-profit organization serving underprivileged young adults who have experienced homelessness and are pursuing college degrees. * Peer Student Mentor * Scholarship Committee * Advisory Board

* Heather taught undergraduate courses in Stanford's department of Theater and Performance Studies: * Fall Quarter 2017: "Introduction to Dance Studies: Dancing Across Stages, Clubs, Screens, and Borders" * Spring Quarter 2017: "Dance on the Move: Migration, Border Zones, and Citizenship" * Winter Quarter 2017 & Spring Quarter 2018: "Representations of the Middle East in Dance, Performance, and Popular Culture" Heather also curated and organized the Stanford Colloquium on Dance Studies. For the 2016 * 2017 academic year, she curated the series of lectures and performances around the theme of "Dance on the Move: Migration, Border Zones, and Citizenship." For the 2017 * 2018 academic year, she collaborated with Dr. Usha Iyer (Assistant Professor of Film and Media in Stanford's Department of Art History) in curating lectures around the theme of “Mediations of Movement: Theorizing Dance on Screen.” https://stanforddancestudies.wordpress.com/