Zeena Ul Ballet is a space for young women from socially disadvantaged backgrounds to express themselves and grow in confidence.
This is an accessible dance project and we try to accommodate for all requirements.
Zeena Ul Ballet is a fusion dance style of traditional classical Ballet, West African and East African dance, Arabic Bellydance and Blues dancing with a Scottish highland twist!
This is an accessible dance project and we try to accommodate for all requirements.
The posture we have and how we move plays a part in how we are perceived by others. Our aim is to create a supportive, collaborative safe space for young women to express themselves and gain confidence in their bodies.
Life can be full of challenges but as we grow on this journey we can use dance to channel our negative emotions, gain mind and body coordination, practice mindfulness and flow with mood boosting endorphins.
All abilities are welcome. No previous dance experience required.
In these welcoming workshops we use dance as a form of expressing emotion and learning how to effectively take up space!
Life can be full of challenges but as we grow on this journey we can use dance to channel our negative emotions, gain mind and body coordination, practice mindfulness and flow with mood boosting endorphins.
Zeena Ul Ballet takes part in community projects and choreographs projects in response to racism, inequality and social deprivation.
Zeena Ul Ballet has choreographed projects in Scotland and England. Projects include raising awareness for mental health, cathartic choreography to channel the daily trauma of racism, and dealing with issues of identity.
Sometimes Zeena Ul Ballet takes inspiration from mathematics and adopts a uniquely interdisciplinary approach to dance.
Zeena Ul Ballet takes part in community projects and choreographs projects in response to racism, inequality and social deprivation.
In response to BLM in 2020 Zeena Ul Ballet choreographed the dance response in Sonnet 3 | Women of Colouring.
In response to gendered violence Zeena Ul Ballet produced a collaborative community project called Sonnet 4 | Sister
Conferences
Zeena Ul Ballet is featured in the Cambridge University CRAASH conference April 2021.
Social Power and Mental Health: Evolving Research Through Lived Experience
19 April 2021 – 23 April 2021
Edinburgh Freestyle influenced artist Jane Hellings here http://www.safelyheld.org/p/safely-held.html
For business enquiries please contact: zeenaulballet@gmail.com
Zeena Ul Ballet has been awarded a Thrive Arts grant to deliver a workshop in Edinburgh in 2021.
November 2022
Sonnet 10 | Elegy for Bermudian Isolation.
Filmed on location in Bermuda on the soft pink sands and clear waters of John Smith Bay. Exploring sufi themes in movement and words. Reading “All About Love” by Bell Hooks planted the seeds that grew into the sentiments behind Sonnet 10.
I do hope you find peace, love and community wherever you may be.
Much Love, Zeena x
September 2022
Sonnet 9 | Soft Paris Heart
Exploring sufi themes in movement and words.
Filmed on location in Paris, France.
June 2022
Sonnet 8 | Turning Exploring sufi themes in movement and words.
Exploring sufi themes in movement and words. Impromptu production and filmed at Scotland’s national centre for dance (The Dancebase).
April 2022
With the start of Ramadan my focus on spirituality in my art practice deepened.
Sonnet 7 | Be Loved was filmed on location in Edinburgh at the Fruitmarket Gallery in the installation Pardes by Jyll Bradley.
Exploring sufi themes in movement and words. Impromptu production and filmed by chance whilst waiting for a train. Stolen moments caught on camera of unrehearsed improvisation.
Zeena Ul Ballet is a space for women from to express themselves and grow in confidence.
February 2022
Dancing in the wind on the cliffs of Howth was an absolutely beautiful and thrilling experience pushing my fears to the limits.
Freestyle dancing in celebration of love for the wonders of the natural world and the inner peace they can bring in times of urban toil, isolation and trauma.
Much love,
Zeena Ul Ballet x
Featuring the Howth Cliffs.
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Zeena Ul Ballet is a space for young women from socially disadvantaged backgrounds to express themselves and grow in confidence.
January 2022
Performance art in a pop up gallery space in Cambridge.
Freestyle dancing around the exhibition space.
“We are all connected” art space and exhibition in Cambridge. Featuring the Umbilical cord created by over 70 local people.
Thank you to the inspirational artists Jill Eastland and Cathy Dunbar who curated the gallery and all the artists who contributed to the project. Zeena Ul Ballet is a space for women to express themselves and grow in confidence.
December 2021
At this time of year I like reflecting on how my practice has developed and the different influences from various life events, the environment, and creative experiences.
A focus these past few months has been on rotations. From the standard pirouette to modified fluid intuitive turns and finally elevating the soul to new heights in the spiritual practice of whirling taken from my cultural heritage.
An emotion I have been exploring in movement is freedom. As Bell Hooks eloquently explained in the impactful work The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love. ‘Love does not exist in domination.’
August 2021
The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted upon my dance practice in many ways.
Firstly the lockdown led to confined space and so it has been interesting to explore expansiveness within physical and the related emotional constraints of the pandemic.
Secondly there has been more focus on solo performance in isolation and practice with introspection and mindfulness with less focus on the collective group experience.
As lockdown eased in August 2021 it was interesting to observe the dynamics between dancers in shared spaces and the live music. I was able to use Scotland as my dancing canvas from the wild terrain to the built up streets in the city centres of Edinburgh each with it’s different influences and dynamic factors which influence movement, such as the tension between voyeurism, the male gaze, the objectification of women and the pure uninhibited freedom of the dancer in the moment.
As the year progresses it will be interesting to see the dynamics in group work and with a partner.
Sonnet written and performed by Dr Zeenath Ul Islam
Tension between the male gaze and the freedom of physical female expression.
Trigger warning mention of male psychosis and adult themes.
Keep well, safe and happy. x
Filmed on location in England.
Words: ZUI Choreography: Zeena Ul Ballet
Beat provided by: Prod. Riddiman
#dance #poem #zeenaulballet
As exhibited in Summerhall art exhibition OOSOOM 2020.
A sonnet written by Dr Zeenath Ul Islam
In response to gendered based violence.
As exhibited in Summerhall art exhibition OOSOOM 2021.
A sonnet written by Dr Zeenath Ul Islam
Captured the atmospheric and evocative early morning haar.
Written and performed by ZUI.
Zeenath’s dancing philosophy:
I view dance as a physical way to manifest and process emotions. Dance can embody the playful spirit and reconnect us with our inner child. One can re-experience trauma through movement and channel it into performance and regain control, power and strength. Dancing on the location where you were once a victim can help one reclaim the physical space from a position of power and help to rebuild confidence and resilience. I believe everyone is a dancer. We can spend time training in studios but I am drawn to performing “en plein air”. Live music unheard of before for the dancer can create unfiltered, pure and honest art in that moment. It doesn’t need to be captured for eternity, in fact, I believe that there is something bittersweet and beautiful in collectively experiencing these fleeting moments of expression. My aim is to create these moments of freedom, pure emotion and unrehearsed beauty. I have been drawn to movement and performance as an art form due to the focus on physicality and way in which it can be used to quieten an analytical, anxious or overthinking mind. It is a joy to see the impact dance can have on both the performers and the audience. In live performance there is an intimate and almost symbiotic relationship between the musician and the dancer each providing inspiration for the other.
Dr Zeenath Ul Islam on Zeena Ul Ballet
Polymath Enterprise 