https://arab.news/wr5dq
- Kinetico Dance Company has grown into a fixture of Riyadh
RIYADH: It was founded as Saudi Arabia’s first female-owned dance company, and set out on a journey no one had taken before.
Now, 14 years later, Kinetico Dance Company has grown into a fixture of Riyadh, fostering a sense of community and a professionalism that entices hundreds of new students through its doors every year.
Managing partner Aya Albakoush said that the company had been part of the family from an early age - her mother was one of the founders.
“I started dancing when I was 11 years old, and I had done it for almost ten years until I started my role from behind the scenes,” she said.
While initially run by Albakoush’s mother and Maha Alblehed, a choreographer and dancer, Kinetico’s management quickly grew into a team of passionate Saudi women that now also includes Alblehed, Reem Alblehed and Sarah Albehaijan.
The company typically hosts a full season of dance training, which leads to an annual show. It teaches styles including hip-hop, contemporary, gymnastics, and musical theater. Student ages range from four to 26, and around 600 new starters sign up every year.
But it has not always been a song and dance, with Albakoush recalling challenges and how the pandemic left them in limbo.
“Students were dancing on air when they were preparing for their annual show,” she said of her pre-COVID classes.
“Shortly after the outbreak in 2020, their yearly performance was canceled. It devastated everyone, especially the young dancers who (wanted) to perform in front of their families.”
But with that now behind them, there is a bright future. “In terms of the future,” said Albakoush, “we love to create art that could be exported and to show our pieces to the world.”
But more than that, Kenetico has also brought a sense of community and closeness between members.
Enas Althenayan, whose two daughters Leen and Joud Alshaalan are at the academy, said Kinetico feels like “another home for us.”
“Joud is now 15, and she joined Kinetico when she was in the first grade of primary school... She’s like their daughter. It taught them discipline. They are more courageous now to go on the stage. It taught them many, many things.”
Said Diana Musat, a mother of one of the students who attended gymnastics and dance classes, put the success down to “a very good upbeat atmosphere” and attentive staff.
The features and facilities have grown along with the company. There are five dance studios, relaxation areas and sauna rooms at Kinetico, and the influence of Alblehed, who worked as an interior designer before she helped found the company, is there to see on the walls as well as on the dancefloor.