About

My name is Amna, and I am a freelance dance artist, educator, translator and occasional poet. I teach and choreograph dance and intentional movement, that is experimental yet rooted in the language of Bharathanatyam.

I began training in south Asian dance forms, contemporary and classical, at the age of 11 years under the late, great dance teacher Indu Mitha. In 2012, I presented my Arangetram, or solo dance recital under Indu Mitha's guidance and care.

From 2016 to 2018, I worked as choreographer and dance instructor of the National Performing Arts Group at the Pakistan National Council of Arts, Islamabad and Karachi. During this time, I choreographed Barzakh, Situation 101 and Mehergarh. In each piece, there were over a dozen dancers performing on stage.

In 2016, I attended a short course in choreology and choreography from Trinity Laban Conservatoire in Greenwich, England. It was here I got inspired to blend the dance education I received that is rooted in the south, with choreology and other interventions by thinkers and artists from the north. I like to especially experiment with the Navarasa and the human psyche, as expressed in movement and sound. The title of this ongoing exploration is "Roots and Wings." I currently facilitate workshops and create performances and installations on this theme.

Around the dictatorship of General Pervez Musharraf, and the subsequent "Lawyers' Movement," my role as a dancer crossed with the role of student organizer. Alongside my comrades from across Pakistan, I pushed against the "falling walls" of autocracy. It was around then that I understood that artistic intervention is a key ingredient in sustained action for political change. I carry on with this work though I have been criticized by cultural and political purists.

When my mother got diagnosed with a rare form of Frontotemporal Dementia, my movement practice infused itself with themes of grief, loss, growth and healing. My work is a journey to finding the Source, sometimes on my own, and sometimes with community. Dance, movement and poetry are central vehicles in this journey.

I find joy in creating performances, teaching and learning about the intersections of somatic movement and socio-political movement. I have performed and taught in Pakistan, China, Germany, the USA, India, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Other than this, I translate poetry; direct, write scripts and act for theater and video production; and organize and join, in any way I can, political groups that work for the establishment of peace and liberation. Whether loud in the public sphere, or quiet in the four walls of domesticity, I find it imperative for myself to create and collaborate towards the building of a "culture" that Jose Mujica talks about: "Culture is about the values we act upon in everyday life. That's part of building a better society."