I admire the work of Amina Khayyam. The Slough-based dancer and choreographer has made pieces about domestic violence (Bird), sexuality (You&Me) and nonconformist women (Slut). She often works in consultation with community groups, drawing on the lives of marginalised and underrepresented women. Rooted in north Indian kathak dance, she has an unforced authority over her movement, a softness and certainty, that draws your focus towards her.
But Khayyam’s latest piece, Bibi Rukiya’s Reckless Daughter, doesn’t quite hit home. It is in part inspired by Federico García Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba, the story of a grieving, domineering mother who isolates her five daughters in an oppressive household. Khayyam’s take is a story of how families, and mothers, perpetuate patriarchal systems by repeating the repressions they themselves experienced.
