Amina Khayyam and the new outdoor family show - People Who Live in the Skies

Where did the concept come from? 

I guess it's all down to motherhood. It all started when my son asked me to tell him a story 'from the brain', this was his way of saying a story not from a book but one which is new and original; he demands a story every night before bedtime. It’s always a challenge to come up with a new one everyday - and one such night a story just flowed 'from the brain' and led to the creation of People Who Lived in the Skies.  
  
Why are you doing a Children’s show? 
  
As a company, we place great emphasis on Kathak’s traditional role as a story-telling form, so it just lent itself organically to reach to a sector of audience who love stories. And stories are universal, the backbone of many cultures and are able to reach diverse audience groups, particularly children who like their imaginations fired up to think creatively and independently. 
  
Also, it’s a great way to introduce Kathak to young audiences, especially in an outdoor venue where anyone can sample the dance form at no cost! A great way to reach audience of the future!  


  

What is People in the Skies about? 
  
The piece explores issues of environment and pollution, using kathak ‘s more dynamic movements to excite children. It looks at the issue of the destruction of the ozone layer, and how human ambition has been deteriorating natural habitats and create inequality. It communicates the message on how we all can play an important role to improve our environment. Great subject for children to get involved in arts and social environment issues. 
  
What was the process of making the show from an Indoor children’s to Outdoor piece? 
  
The show was originally created for indoor spaces, but we thought that it could easily transpose to an outdoor environment.  Originally made with punctuations for eye contact, interaction and endless possibilities of provoking a response from the children (I like to call it haggling), the outdoor stage brought different sets of expectation, and with it the delivery of it too. 
  
Outdoor audiences are often accidental audiences, so you can't expect an instant engagement. So, I had to think of ways to engagement from passerby’s, like performers parading around in costumes prior to performance to inviting the audience to come closer. The visual impact is an important aspect and the exaggerated and heightened movement vocabularies also another, combining that with set, costume and music. 
  
Why Environment? 
  
I like my audiences to leave the performance not just feeling entertained but also be challenged and affected by what they've just seen. I like also like empowering characters that I chose as protagonist – which I did with Yerma and A Thousand Faces.  The children's shows are no different. Through the piece I hope to give young audiences the right tools and understanding of themselves and things around them so they hopefully can recognise when things are not quite right around them. 


  


How is the storytelling interwoven with movement? How are you using words? 
  
To use or not to use words was a dilemma as the origin of the story came from orally telling the story. I was also interested in words since the origin of Kathak came from using them in an oral tradition way. So that knowledge allowed me to delve into the process and weave words and movements to blend together in harmony. 
  
  
What are the intentions for the show? 
  
As any company we want to expand our audience base. I'm also keen on engaging with the 'accidental audiences' as it it's not always guaranteed to engage new audiences through the traditional method of marketing. This is also in a way to carry on with the company's ethos to engage with the grass root and new audiences. The outdoor presentation allows the company's work to reach and be accessible to wide audience who otherwise would not attend a performance in a theatre setting. Importantly I am always finding new ways to introduce Kathak to new and diverse audiences. 
  
People Who Lived in the Skies is available for outdoors melas, festivals and children’s events.