Workshops
Silk Roads offers workshops and performances to schools, museums, and events, including
- Middle-Eastern storytelling with Middle-Eastern drumming
- Middle-Eastern drumming with dance (dabka)
- Storytelling
- Dabka (Middle-Eastern dance)
- Sufi drumming
- Arts and crafts (geometric design, calligraphy, multi-media weaving, batik)
Workshops can run from one-hour to term-long projects or residencies.
A one-day model for schools that we use is to workshop two separate classes in storytelling and drumming, bringing them together to create a performance, and ending with a performance-sharing.
Feedback comments
“ … a great success … all the evaluations were extremely positive and particularly highlighted your enthusiasm and quality … ” ― Nicholas Badcott, Arab world education officer, The British Museum
“All the children and adults involved had a fantastic day and I've already had some great feedback from both my colleagues and the children. They were particularly impressed by the fact that all the children were involved and taking part somehow ― which considering the number of children was quite an achievement!” ― Nasreen Khan, Teacher, Hillingdon School
“Many thanks for … your excellent performance … It was really inspiring!” ― Isabel Carlisle, Director, Festival of Muslim Cultures
Sufi frame-drumming
Khaled Hakim learnt Sufi frame-drum (daf) in traditional ceremonies.
Some say frame-drums have been played for 40,000 years (as soon as people could skin an animal!), always in sacred contexts, and are rightly called 'the world's oldest spiritual technology'.
With an ages-long shamanic tradition, the frame-drum is these days most widely played in the Islamic world from N.Africa to Indonesia. The daf is the preeminent Sufi instrument, and is the only music instrument allowed by very orthodox Muslims (in the traditions it's actually very young girls who are supposed to play them at joyous occasions like weddings!).
Participants can learn the large Persian daf with its chained rings, or the smaller plain framedrums with its different techniques. The instruments can use synthetic or natural animal skin (smell them! see the pattern of the fur!).
The rhythms taught are those frequently used in the Sufi ceremonies of recollecting God's names. It's worth noting that playing these rhythms are a direct form of 'meditation' in themselves, with energizing and cleansing qualities.
The workshops have been taught to Westerners and orthodox Muslims, children and adults - all falling under its powerful spell.
Up to 20 participants
Batik - fabric painting
'Batik' is a traditional technique of painting on fabric using wax and fabric dye. It's found in Africa and Asia, and is particularly identified with Indonesia.
Rezia Wahid teaches this craft to adults and children, using freehand drawing or design templates. The 'production' process of drawing with hot wax, painting with dyes, then ironing the cloth and allowing to dry, makes for a very rewarding experience.
Rezia Wahid is an award-winning innovative handweaver whose work is feted by both craft and contemporary art circles. She is also a Textiles Technology/Art & Design teacher. She has extensive experience in conducting textiles workshops and her interest in this field has led her to research art, craft and design from different cultures through which she has designed schemes of work for teaching natural fibres, fabric construction and hands-on creative projects using different materials.
Rezia has exhibited her work at various exhibitions in London and across the UK, and in 2005 was awarded an MBE for Arts in London. She has also been awarded the Alhambra Award for Excellence in Art and was elected to Full Membership of the Society of Designer Craftsmen.
Arabic folk dance
Shafeek Ibrahim is the only professional male Arabic folk dancer in Europe, and the only tanoura dancer in the UK.
His experience and talents are vast. Having been devoted to dance since the age of eight, he has worked in theatres and shows all over Egypt. As an ex-Reda troupe member, his experience and training are well-respected.
Though still in his twenties, he has already performed and taught at the country's biggest Arabic dance events. Shafeek is considered a master of Arabic dance, running international workshops and acting as dance judge including the BBC's Big Dance Mass.
Dabke video (External link)
Dabka
'Dabka' (pron: dabkeh) is the Arab word for a widespread traditional line step-dance danced at social gatherings (such as weddings). It's danced by men and women, young and old, from the Arab world to Greece and the Balkans, generating great community togetherness.
Alia Alzougbi is the founder of 'Hurraiya' - a Middle-Eastern dabka troupe. The Dabke dance with Middle-Eastern drumming is something that has been rolled out for adults and for children. For schools and education, the class or group is split into two (not necessarily evenly), one part do the dabke workshop, the other part do the middle-eastern drumming, then they come together to perform the dabke piece.
For adults, the dabka workshop can be run for about 25 people. A short 10 min demonstration can be followed by a 45 min workshop and a final short performance.
Up to 25 participants
Storytelling - Tales from the Silk Roads
The storytelling workshops and performances have been the most popular arm of Silk Roads, we run them continuously for schools, festivals, conferences, Muslim events, and it works equally well for adults and children.
Part of the success of the storytelling events is that they are extremely interactive, include percussion music, and include 20 drums for the audience to participate in. The workshop techniques are imaginative and physical (including 'frozen tableaux' techniques). The stories are adapted from Arabian Nights or from spiritual/Sufi stories and poems (the Hymn of the Pearl has been very successful with children and adults and has been adapted from a 2000 year old Syrian spiritual poem).
A performance would be 20-35 mins, a workshop would be 1-2 hours. Alia Alzougbi is a dynamic performer who combines an ornate 'Arabic' storytelling style with great acting abilities and gripping stories (Alia recently took the starring role in the BBC feature film 'Trouble Sleeping' released 2008).
Contact us
Please use the form to contact us about arranging a workshop for your organisation.