Amina Khayyam

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 principle 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]

Khayyam also teaches BA Hons Dance and Culture degree at the University of Surrey.[4]

Khayyam has one child (born 2009).[4]

• British Bangladeshi
• List of British Bangladeshis

• Official website