ROCK ISLAND, ILLINOIS (February 7, 2024) — Join us for an exclusive evening with Amirah Sackett, part of our Visiting Artist Series. Experience a captivating full-length performance, followed by an intimate conversation revealing the artist’s background and collaborative ventures.
International artists Amirah Sackett and Ahmed Zaghbouni aka MR MiC join forces to bring a fun and energetic performance entitled “BeatBox MEETS Popping.” Amirah is a hip-hop dancer, choreographer, and educator based in Chicago, Illinois. Her signature style is the funk style dance known as “popping.” As a proud Muslim American, she combines Islamic themes with her dance to share the universal beauty of her faith with audiences of different faith backgrounds to promote unity and understanding. Ahmed Zaghbouni is an international beatboxer and filmmaker from Sousse, Tunisia. His performance always entertains the audience with disbelief by the sounds he creates only using his mouth and voice as an instrument. He is proud of his Muslim heritage and the Sufi faith traditions native to his home of Tunisia. These two Muslim artists bonded by faith and their love of hip-hop, offer a counter-narrative to the media’s portrayal of Muslims. Both Ahmed and Amirah are dedicated to preserving and sharing hip-hop culture with the next generation and audiences around the world, as well as being examples of using art for social change.
This event, held at Putnam Museum and Science Center (1717 W 12th St, Davenport) on February 10 at 7PM, highlights performing arts’ pivotal role in sharing cultural traditions, both old and new, and the power of arts to create a space for cultural exchange and reflective discussion.
Amirah Sackett is an internationally recognized hip-hop dancer, choreographer, and teacher, Amirah Sackett explores and embodies her Muslim American identity by combining hip-hop movement and Islamic themes.
She is widely known for her creation of the choreography and performance group known as, “We’re Muslim, Don’t Panic”, which reached viral video fame after being featured on POPSUGAR Celebrity, The Huffington Post, AJ+, and Upworthy.
Sackett was honored to be a TEDx speaker, guest lecturer at Harvard University, and a cultural diplomat with the US State Department in Bangladesh and Malaysia.
Sackett’s performance is the culminating event of her educational residency, the eighth in the fiftieth season of Quad City Arts Visiting Artist Series.
During her week in residence, Sackett will visit fourteen local schools in six school districts. Students and families attending her residency activities will see how she blends dance and music, hip-hop and Islamic traditions, to create her own perspective on female Muslim identity in the hip-hop community. (Learn more: amirahsackett.com.)
About Quad City Arts
Quad City Arts is a non-profit local arts agency dedicated to enriching the quality of life in the Quad City region through the arts.
Quad City Arts receives support for the Visiting Artist Series from John Deere, Scott County Regional Authority, Regional Development Authority, Bechtel Charitable Trust, National Endowment of the Arts, Iowa Arts Council, Illinois Arts Council Agency, Quad Cities Cultural Trust, the Amy Helpenstell Foundation Fund, the John J Quail Fund, and the Marsha and Don Pedersen Endowment at the Quad Cities Community Foundation, Arts Midwest GIGFund, Rock Island Community Foundation, Moline Kiwanis, Mary Iva Gittens Knouse Trust, Moline Rotary, Rock Island Rotary, Rauch Family Foundation I, Kiwanis Club of Davenport, and Quad City Arts donors.
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