| Amina Khayyam | |
| Birth Place: | Sylhet Division Bangladesh |
| Nationality: | Bangladeshi |
| Citizenship: | British |
| Occupation: | Dancer, choreographer, dance teacher |
| Years Active: | 2001–present |
| Children: | 1 |
| Current Group: | Amina Khayyam Dance Company |
| Dances: | Kathak |
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]
Khayyam also teaches BA Hons Dance and Culture degree at the University of Surrey.[4]
Khayyam has one child (born 2009).[4]