EPISODE LINKS

Sonia Sabri Company (@soniasabrico) • Instagram photos and videos

Sonia Sabri Company (ssco.org.uk)

SHOW HIGHLIGHTS

(0:02:03) 2022 Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony

(0:03:54) A Camp for Kathak

(0:08:11) Catering to varying experience levels of dance

(0:12:11) How do you teach differently compared to how you were taught

(0:18:54) The issue of students dropping out of Kathak in high school

(0:27:06) Outreach and Education: Teaching audiences about dance

(0:35:01) Making your content specific to your audience

(0:39:38) What does it mean to collaborate?

(0:49:02) Building relationships with dancers

(0:56:02) Hiring dancers for Sonia Sabri Dance Company

(1:04:34) Performing kathak for 10,000 people: WOMAD

(1:06:47) How would you like to be remembered?

BIO

She also runs Kathakaars, a creative forum for aspiring dancers providing vocational training and offering a range of performance and choreographic opportunities to create a legacy of high quality artists Sonia Sabri is UK’s leading Kathak dancer, amongst the brightest and most inspirational of British born dancer-choreographers working in the twenty-first century. Creating work that spans from the presentation of classical roots of Kathak to explorations of contemporary approaches, her productions reflect an appreciation of Western and Eastern cultures. She has created a fresh, unique style of Kathak by reinventing it from within, by pushing boundaries and generating work that is original in concept and exciting and relevant to today’s audiences. As a dance artist, she is acclaimed for her enchanting stage presence, grace and musicality that enthral audiences both nationally and globally.

She has secured an international reputation for collaboration across dance styles and art forms including work with pioneers Sarvar Sabri, Arlene Phillips CBE, Sir Trevor Nunn, Richard Alston, Lea Anderson, Shobana Jeyasingh, Nitin Sawhney, Rose English, Jonzi D, Jatinder Verma to mention a few. As well as touring with work created in Britain across the world she has been supported and commissioned by UKTI and British Council and independent bodies to create new work and lead meaningful learning and participatory projects. One of many highlights include her work in the Emirates touring with Kathakbox; leading movement based workshops and residencies for women only groups and especially from orthodox backgrounds; residencies with children with learning difficulties, and creation of new dance and live music works with girls. Sonia is the first female artist and female led dance company to have toured the Emirates and other parts of the Middle east.

Sonia’s art is the seed of all her outreach work in the community for different groups including women, young people and children, mothers and daughters, young families, elderly people through to working with women of mental and health concerns many of which referred by GPs. Some examples include working with women in some of the deprived areas in the country using movement and music as a way to share their personal experiences as a way of therapy. Providing a safe environment, emotive language of art and with Sonia’s sensitive and sympathetic nature (derived from her personal experiences), women unveiled their inner most thoughts, challenges, concerns and broken dreams. Through carefully considered and bespoke arts programmes, residencies and workshops, Sonia has enabled many women to transform their lives. Some examples include - many have gone into education; have built confidence to communicate with their families about their inner most feelings / concerns which otherwise they feared to voice; change their lifestyle towards positive mental and physical health; build friendship circles to empower other women. Some who had lifelong dream to dance, sing, or play an instrument were provided a platform to do so and have now gone on to seek vocational training to develop their talent with some now performing in community and professional settings.

Sonia has also trained library workers in community libraries and in health centres how to use the toolkit of Kathak dance and offer emotional and physical wellbeing, build child and parent relationships, and approaches to communicate with women of culturally sensitive backgrounds who often felt detached from main stream society. Where ever Sonia has delivered and continues to deliver these programmes, there is a legacy of empowered women who are now helping other underrepresented women.  Sonia works with women and girls of all backgrounds and experiences and many are from the muslim community. She is considered a role model nationally and not exclusively for the South Asian community given the ground-breaking work she has developed through her artistic practice. There are very few women of her faith and cultural heritage and a proud British Indian leading the way for the future generation. In addition, Sonia is a teacher of Kathak and regularly undertakes various workshops, lecture- demonstrations and residencies in both national and international venues. She is accredited by the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD). Recently she was commissioned by BBC Young Dancer 2017 as one of the mentors and choreographers for the grand finals.