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Stuart Hopps
One of UK’s leading film choreographers

A real triumph. An unlikely example of a dancer’s life being equally fascinating both on and off-stage.

Dr Ramin Parham
Iranian writer and intellectual and leading opponent of Iran’s Shia regime.

A thoroughly enjoyable and well-researched book. The doors of the Iranian National Ballet Company might well have been forced shut. But Symonds shows us with devastating effect that the desire for freedom has far from been extinguished in Iran. Symonds' journey resurrects a forgotten Iran from thirty years of lies and as such shines a much needed light on a not so remote past, buried in rubble by the fall of 1979.

Professor Goel Cohen
Iranian Jewish expatriate and academic

I grew up in the ancient Jewish community of Iran. What a pleasure to return to my country through the most unlikely story of a South African Jewish girl who falls in love with a Muslim. A sensitively told tale of cross-cultural romance related with style and panache - and at a time of the most challenging socio-political change.

Lord David Steel
Former leader of the Liberal Party and life-long anti-apartheid campaigner.

‘Romance and Revolution’ skilfully takes us into the murky world of the Shah’s Iran – where even classical ballet is not immune from the country’s ruthless secret police.

Sue Margolis
Best-selling author of Neurotica

Who needs fiction when you can read about a real-life love story
which draws you in from page 1?

Peter Hain MP
South African born anti-apartheid campaigner and former British cabinet minister.

A great read, tremendously evocative of its time, spotlighting the innocence of childhood and the passion of dance, played out against the sinister and shadowy backdrop of apartheid, intrigue and growing political unrest.

Nima Kiann
Founder & Artistic Director of Les Ballets Persans – the equivalent of the Iranian National Ballet in exile (Sweden).

Far more than the memoir of one particularly dedicated dancer – Romance and Revolution is a valuable resource exposing the untold story of the Iranian National Ballet that once served as Iran's most reputable cultural organization.

Jeremy Allen
Head of Artistic Staff, The Israel Ballet, Tel Aviv.

As a former member of the Iranian National Ballet myself, I remember Clair's sharp and spectacular grandes jetées cleaving the air in the company’s rehearsal studios. The 1979 Iranian Revolution was like a force of nature, an unstoppable wave that caught us all up and in its wake destroyed much of what was dear to us at the time. Dancers, though seemingly fragile, are usually extremely tough and down to earth people and it is these qualities that Clair Symonds brings to this most authentic and evocative memory of Tehran during those perilous times.

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