The foundation of much of the movement for Duck (Arcola Theatre) involved developing a movement language of an experienced cricketer. This included basic cricket technique, particularly alignment and weight transfer, being playful when using the bat as prop, and creating the cricketing moments of the play. Other work included aiding with character physicality and transitions in multi-rolling. As well as finding intentionality and specificity in cricket-specific movement such as ‘knocking in’ the bat or ‘padding up’.

GOING FOR GOLD (Chelsea Theatre) charts the story of Frankie Lucas, Middleweight boxer and Gold Medal winner. Movement direction involved character work into the physicalisation of psychosis and ageing. As well as finding creative ways to stage boxing fights through the highly physical movement language of the piece.

Mohammedally Shushtari’s For One More Day To Live (Theatre Peckham) is an inventive blend of gig theatre, spoken word, live art and direct address. Movement direction involved a wide array of work, from mime animal handling to exploring grief through stylised movement.

Curtains (Embassy Theatre) is Central School of Speech and Drama BA Musical Theatre’s 2022 final year musical. Movement direction mostly consisted of working on the multiple murders and deaths that make up the comedy murder mystery.

BA Musical Theatre’s second-year American Realism module stages several contrasting scenes from American plays, each with its own movement requirements. Much of the movement work involved character development, specifically relating to age, profession, and trauma.

Inspired by the daytime raves of 1990s British Asian culture, Azan Ahmed’s Daytime Deewane (Half Moon Theatre) explores the beauty and struggle of living with a multi-cultural identity as a teenager. The movement in Daytime Deewane stretches from the hard ‘stomps, shimmys and slides’ of a daytimer, to tender moments of brotherly affection and the transcendent ritual of whirling.

DJinn and Other Spirits (Stanley Arts) combined themes of the spiritual and ritual with physical endurance and rave culture. The movement was devied organically through a rich devising process that involved the performers digging into cultural identity and heritage - asking the question what does it mean to be British Asian?

For Discoballs and Dupattas (Camden People’s Theatre) we developed a movement score to underpin the piece. Techniques included identifying movement qualities in various genres of music, creating immersive choreography inspired by underground rave culture and South Asian heritages, and working around a dancing audience.

STATUES (Barbican Centre) was written by Azan Ahmed as part of Barbican Open Labs . As movement director we worked on choreographing a surrealist movement sequence that combined elements of puppetry with research into Bollywood dance. Other physical aspects of the work engaged significantly with Islam, masculinity and British Asian culture.

Worked on a one-to-one basis with MA Character Animation 2nd year students (Central St. Martins, University of Arts London). Consulting and coaching the movement requirements of their individual short films. The studio work involved generating contrasting physicality, object manipulation and overcoming technical challenges in applying physical movement to digital animation.

Daytime Deewane (Half Moon Theatre). Written by Azan Ahmed, Performed by Jonny Khan. Worked on generating character physicality, and movement for the R&D project. The work drew inspiration from 90s daytime raves and Sufi whirling dervishes.

Assisted Louise Kempton on movement direction for the National Youth Theatre’s ‘Playing Up’ programme final production of The Master’s House. Worked with setting movement to music for large ensembles.

Working with MA Character Animation students at Central St. Martins (University of Arts London). Movement workshops and individual coaching for animation projects commissioned for the London International Animated Film Festival.

Faux Woke (Mint Face Productions), Written by Azan Ahmed, Performed by Dalila McFarlane-Martin. Worked online one-to-one directing the performer through a physical adaptation of an original spoken word text.

The Brave Anthology (the Space UK). Directed by Becky Hinde and Sam Pout. Worked with actors on moving with music, rhythms and creating ensemble that connected bodies to cities.

The movement language for 10 Nights was built predominantly on the rituals of i’tikaf. Through movement and exploration, we found ways to capture stillness, presence and peace on one hand; and anguish, struggle and the passage of time on the other. Movement direction for 10 Nights also includes research on physical symptoms of withdrawal, sleep deprivation and a session on TikTok dances. A large part of the movement for 10 Nights centred on building rich and varied character physicalities and finding ways for the actor to switch characters seamlessly whilst capturing the essence of each character as written by Shahid Iqbal Khan.