Amina Khayyam | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Nationality | Britishi |
| Citizenship | British |
| Occupation(s) | Artistic Director, Dancer, choreographer, dance teacher |
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Children | 1 |
| Career | |
| Current group | Amina Khayyam Dance Company |
| Dances | Kathak |
| Website | aminakhayyamdance |
Amina Khayyam is a Bangladeshi-born British dancer, choreographer and dance teacher. She is acclaimed for her progressive work within Kathak's intricate and detailed theatrical movements of abhinaya. [1]
Khayyam was born in Sylhet Division, Bangladesh [2] and comes from a Muslim background where dance was frowned upon. [3] She grew up in village in Oxted, Surrey, where her late father owned a business [4] and Khayyam attended Oxted School.
She trained in London initially with Alpana Sengupta before [2] attending local dance classes under the direction of Kathak specialist, [4] dancer, choreographer and teacher Sushmita Ghosh in 1996, [2] part of which she trained three years at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Educational Trust in London. [2]
In 2001, Khayyam made her professional debut at the Purcell Room, Southbank Centre. [5] Her performance ranges from classical Kathak, in which, she has received high accolades for her Abhinaya, to multi-media performances such as the principal performer in the Akademi/South Bank's outdoor spectacle Escapade in 2003 [2] and in International Arts' and Forum for Laboratory Theatres of Manipuri's production of Macbeth-Stage of Blood on the River Thames. [5] In 2007, she set up her own company, Amina Khayyam Dance Company. [4] Khayyam is the founder and artistic director Amina Khayyam Dance Company, which uses Khathak as the core narrative. [5]
She has toured extensively both nationally and internationally with her own work as well as for other companies [2] such as Sonia Sabri, and has worked with dancers/choreographers including, [5] Kumudini Lakhia, [2] Nahid Siddiqui, [5] Filip Van Huffel, [2] Darshan Singh Bhuller, and Jonathan Lunn. Khayyam uses Kathak as the core of her work; in Laal Shaari, [5] which combined live art process with Kathak movement and she presented at mac, it was selected for ROH2 Firsts. [5] She has also appeared at the mac in Sonia Sabri's Red and zeroculture's production of Find Me Amongst the Black. [1]
In 2014, Khayyam adapted Federico García Lorca's play Yerma , setting it in a modern, inner-city British community to neo-classical Kathak dance and performed to live music with tabla, cello and vocals. [5] [6] Khayyam herself dances the title role. [7] [8] [9] In the same year, she made a full production of [5] A Thousand Faces. [1] She also made a mid scale production Amad. [5]
In 2022, Khayyam's dance company (Amina Khayyam Dance Company) was shortlisted in the 2021 National Dance Awards in the category "Best Independent Company". [10] The following year, the company presented two shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Bird and You&Me. [11] Bird was presented with a Lustrum Award for an unforgettable festival show by Summerhall. [12]
Khayyam also teaches BA Hons Dance and Culture degree at the University of Surrey. [4]
Khayyam has one child (born 2009). [4]