By Issu Iddy – Art in Tanzania internship
Those who love contemporary, Traditional, and hip-hop dance would be great admirers of the works of Islam Iddy. After all he has been a dancer for more than four years, constantly expanding his talent.
Islam is more than a dancer; he is also an artist who enjoys abstract imagery; he draws and paints his own abstract and imaginative pictures as a hobby and has successfully sold over 100 artworks as charity work. He believes in speaking the unspoken through art.
His values are Strength, Momentum and Practice, Islam does not shy away from repeated practice these values sharpen his skills as a dancer and a performer. Every time that Islam dances, draws or performs, he puts his best to produce better than the last.
For his education, Islam took arts and culture at Taasisi ya Sanaa na Utamaduni Bagamoyo (TaSUBa), where he earned his Diploma in performing and visual arts. He frequently travels around the world to perform dances with famous choreographers, such as Ian Jumbe Mwaisunga. During this period, he had already sold over 20 artworks that he had painted and drawn.
He graduated from TASUBA in 2016 and decided to study dance at Muda Africa in Dar es Salaam. He successfully graduated with a diploma in Contemporary and Traditional dance in 2019. During his study at Muda Africa, he participated in several dance and performing projects, including the renowned Hope Human Rights project under Ispo from Germany, which focused on democracy, racism, and freedom.
Since graduation, he has been a freelance dancer, participating in projects that focus on raising awareness of the issues and challenges facing society and his community of artists. In March 2020, he participated in a contemporary dance performance that was based on amplifying the voices of men going through anxiety and depression that eventually led to suicide and domestic violence. This is an issue facing many Tanzanian men and women, the performance was titled “Mental health Contemporary Dance”.
Islam Iddy has not stopped raising voices for the marginalized he went on and worked with brands and companies such as Love arts Tanzania in a Musical theatre performance titled “Ndoto Kubwa” Swahili for I Have Big Dreams that is about free and fair election and the position of women in leadership in a religious and male dominated country like Tanzania.
Now, Islam Iddy is focusing on improving his dance performance skills and hopes to become one of the most outstanding performers in Africa, while driving change in his community and society. Since dance is a part of Tanzanian culture, through it, he hopes to be a helping hand to those in need.
