South Asian themed dances around social issues at Edinburgh Fringe Festival

Amina Khayyam Dance Company is excited to return to Summerhall with two shows YOU&ME and BIRD, part of their Kathak Monologues – dance pieces written & choreographed by Amina Khayyam and thematic from a South Asian feminist perspective. The Amina Khayyam Dance Company is a professional touring dance–theatre company that uses the south Asian dance form Kathak as the core narrative in making new work in collaboration with the marginalised female voice.

(1) YOU&ME – Wed 2nd Aug – Sun 13th Aug

Man meets Man… discovering a state of happiness never felt before; but he has a wife and family at home. A dance duet featuring the spectacle of high energy Kathak and physicality of contemporary dance, with a live music score of sitar, tabla and cello.

There’s another side to LGBTQ+ prejudice that people do not often consider. Societal prejudice not only forces gay men to hide their sexualities and enter heterosexual marriages but also has a profound impact on women who unknowingly become part of a loveless arrangement.

At a workshop with women’s groups, some women came forward to share their real-life experiences of a marriage where their partner could not express his sexuality for fear of bringing shame to the family.

“During one of my regular outreach workshops with women’s groups, the subject of LGBTQ+ came up and a participant opened up – admitting to being in a marriage where her partner, who she knew was gay, had been required to get married because of family and societal pressures. This prompted me to explore the subject further and as expected, I found more women in similar situations. This compelled me to make the piece to tell the many hidden stories but importantly to tell the story from her perspective where she encourages him to be courageous and ‘come out’,” said choreographer Amina Khayyam.

This is how YOU&ME was developed. It narrates the struggle of a married gay man who must one day face the decision that he can no longer live the insincerity of his life at home and in one part he faces up to his wife in a solo kathak section – where using gatnikas (expression of character) to play reverse roles – he expresses his guilt of living a double life with her. She encourages him – helping him to build the courage to make the decision. The narrative of You&Me is steeped in Kathak’s nritta to expand on the struggles he has to overcome in a community that doesn’t recognise or refuses it.

Amina Khayyam said “It was very important to me to cast LGBTQ+ dancers and I wanted the dancers to be able to empathise with the stories told by the women. Once I shared my research with them, we explored their own personal stories of their sexuality and their experience of coming out – and thereby – the societal impact on them. The narrative arc began developing a story told by the two gay characters – however, I wanted to keep the emphasis that the perspective of the narrative is from a woman’s point of view – whose point of view informed the dramaturgy exploring the cultural significance of societies behaviours around them.”

(2) BIRD – Tue 15th Aug – Sun 27th Aug

The stage sequel to the critically acclaimed ‘Catch The Bird Who Won’t Fly’ exploring the question ‘What happens when you run away from domestic abuse?’ Three dancers weave the story to a specially commissioned live music score by Jonathan Mayer (with an adaptation of John Marc Gowan's sequence from Slut).

For women who summon the courage to escape the clutches of domestic violence, the journey is fraught with difficulties. Leaving an abusive environment can be a complex process, involving emotional trauma, financial instability and legal challenges. In South Asian communities, leaving an abusive relationship can be especially daunting due to societal pressure and often, the family’s disapproval.

Women who escape domestic violence often have to rebuild their lives from the ground up. AKDC’s kathak peice BIRD started life from such accounts of escaping domestic abuse. During a workshop with a women’s community group, a participant asked –“What happens to a woman when she runs away from domestic abuse?” That question was impactful; the tone, the nervousness in her voice, and the looking away after she asked the question… expressing the weight of cultural social stigma that surrounds escaping abuse.

BIRD is a stage sequel to the critically acclaimed digital dance piece Catch the Bird Who Won’t Fly.

You can pick up tickets for both here.