Short Kathak dance pieces, thematic from a south Asian feminist perspective, written & choreographed by Amina Khayyam
YOU&ME – Man meets Man… discovering a state of happiness he has never known before; but he has a wife and family at home. You&Me confronts the cultural status quo attitudes towards sexuality.
Developed because of AKDC’s programme of workshops with women’s community groups. The women shared their real-life experiences of a marriage where their partner could not express his sexuality for fear of bringing shame to the family. This experience has been developed with two LGBTQ+ performers from their imagining his perspective.
BIRD – A stage sequel to AKDC’s critically acclaimed dance film Catch The Bird Who Won’t Fly started in a workshop with a women’s community group – where a participant asked – “What happens to a woman when she runs away from domestic abuse?”
The tone, the expression, the nervousness in her voice, the looking away after she asked the question, prompted this scalding emphatic kathak fluence-d piece exploring the social stigma for women in such a situation.
KATHAK MONOLOGUES
Kathak Movement Notation and Depiction (choreography) by Amina Khayyam
Performers: Jane Chan, Jalpa Vala, Sushma Vala, Abirami Eswar, Shyam Dattani, Julian Nichols
Musicians: Debasish Mukherjee (tabla), Jonathan Mayer (sitar), Iain McHugh (cello) Nimrita Kaur Rasiya (vocal on ManChild).
Music composed by Jonathan Mayer
Produced & Dramaturgy by Hardial S. Rai
Costume: Abeda Begum
Lighting: Clare O’Donoghue
Made at Brunel Arts (University) and Collage Arts Spaces in association with zeroculture/Arts with support from Arts Council of England