Learn Farsi: رقصنده در پی ظرافت روی صحنه است. - The dancer is in pursuit of elegance on the stage.

It can mean physical pursuit (like going after someone), but here it is used abstractly to mean seeking or striving for. It implies a continuous effort to achieve zerâfat (elegance). Remember to use an ezafe to connect it to the noun being pursued: dar pey-e zerâfat.

Could I use be donbâl-e instead of dar pey-e in this sentence?

Yes, be donbâl-e zerâfat would also mean looking for or in pursuit of elegance. However, dar pey-e often sounds a bit more elevated or poetic, which perfectly fits the artistic context of a dancer on stage. Be donbâl-e is slightly more common in everyday spoken Farsi for literally looking for something.

Why is the verb just ast (is) if the dancer is actively pursuing something?

In Farsi, you can express an active state of seeking by pairing the prepositional phrase dar pey-e (in pursuit of) with the simple 'to be' verb ast. The combination naturally translates to 'is pursuing' or 'is seeking' without needing a separate action verb.

As a quick refresher, how is the word raqs-andeh (dancer) built?

It uses the classic 'doer' suffix -andeh added to a verb's present stem. The verb is raqsidan (to dance), whose present stem is raqs-. Adding -andeh gives you 'one who dances', exactly like nevis-andeh (writer) or khân-andeh (singer).