At the Riley Theatre
*Included in Autumn Season Offer
a heresy to burn a book, but acceptable to burn a woman…
Experience bold dance theatre that breaks new ground. Blending elements of the South Asian dance style Kathak with physical theatre and mime, A Thousand Faces subverts the imagery of Bollywood beauty and Hollywood glamour to discuss violence against women worldwide, in particular, acid attacks.
“a powerful, hard-hitting emotional production that had integrity, honesty and reality at its core.” - BBC
"Extraordinary theatre piece. A gripping, honest story unveiling the deep, inner turmoil of acid-attack victims" - Audience member
A Thousand Faces is presented in association with Acid Survivors Trust International. Although equally unacceptable when acid violence occurs against men, attacks across the world affect women disproportionately, with cases reported in the UK and across South-East Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, the West Indies and the Middle East.
Presented in Leeds in association with SAA-UK and Kala Sangam
Tickets:£12 (£6)
"As always with my work I did not want to show the women as just victims, which would be very easy, but instead empower them to take decisions into their hands. ...I hope we have been able to convey their spirit…" Amina Khayyam
Khayyam’s signature style makes use of ‘ang abhinaya’; the expressive use of gesture and face to reveal character and structure narrative. It is a side to traditional Kathak rarely seen in the UK, where technical virtuosity is more often the focus.
For A Thousand Faces Amina Khayyam has teamed up with actor and mime artist Harmage Singh Kalirai to complement her renowned Kathak style. The result is an innovative, heartfelt and urgent work that fuses south Asian and western movement genres.
UK-based Amina Khayyam Dance Company have developed a unique contemporary approach to Kathak dance, to tell stories that affect marginalized women in specific communities. They frequently hold workshops with women’s groups to inform and shape their work, and to share their process. Driven by the narrative potential of Kathak, the company are energized by the meeting of traditional south Asian dance and British culture, using dance’s artistic neighbours theatre, live art and technology to push the art form into new territory.
