DUBAI, 4 November 2021 – Muslim American hip-hop dancer, choreographer and activist Amirah Sackett wants women and girls to feel empowered through hip-hop dance, and explore the art form in a way where they are not objectified, she said after a stage performance at the USA Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai today (4 November).
Amirah Sackett said: “I want girls to feel powerful and strong. To express themselves in dance without being overly sexualised.
“By teaching a girl breaking, which is really an athletic endeavour, [or] teaching her popping, which is theatrical and creative, she has a power that is not just based on her looks – or how she can attract men … For young girls especially, I think seeing me is a powerful reminder that dance can be something that is beautiful and powerful – and you can be a woman doing it, but you can also do it without being objectified.
“It’s all a choice. I’m not hating on anybody; you’re an adult, you can do what you want. But when it comes to young people, I worry about the images they’re being fed through social media versus what they’re being told [such as]: ‘Love yourself, embrace yourself’.”
Trained in classical ballet at a young age, and with a jazz musician father, Sackett said she fell in love with hip-hop from an early age: “The first part of the [hip-hop] culture I fell in love with was definitely rap. And then I got into dancing a little bit later, but I was always dancing. I loved all kinds of dance.”
Sackett, who currently teaches breakdancing in a Chicago studio and uses her voice to combat negative stereotypes about Muslim women, said her work also focuses on addressing misconceptions around hip-hop culture, particularly within the Islamic community.
“When the average Muslim hears ‘female hip-hop dancer’, the idea that comes to their mind is not what I’m doing. There is an educational aspect [in] letting people understand hip-hop culture, letting them know the root dances of hip hop, understanding [its] underground culture.
“There’s a competitive part of our dance, too. I battle people and compete. It builds a lot of self-confidence and has all these great outcomes, [especially] for young people.”