Aisyah meets up with childhood friend and aspiring dancer, Fariz Khir, to discuss how attending a youth centre set him on his path
The Government’s decision to exclude London from its levelling-up initiatives are at the detriment to London’s youth. Youth centres across London are vital in getting London’s most deprived kids off the streets and helping them discover themselves. Many of Britain’s working-class stars have directly benefited from the support provided by youth centres, including the Brit Award winning rapper-cum-actor, Little Simz, and Black Panther actress, Letitia Wright. Both attended Mary’s Youth Club in Islington, with Little Simz crediting the centre with nurturing her talents.
Much like Little Simz, Fariz Khir, a 22-year-old dance student, also credits his current appreciation for dance to attending a London youth centre. I caught up with Fariz at his university cafe in Stratford, in early March, to discuss how his time at the youth centre nurtured his love for dance.
When I met Fariz had just come out of his morning dance lessons.
Since I’ve last seen him, his hair has grown longer, and he’s now sporting a tiny man bun at the nape of his neck. He’s clad in a white hoodie, his black puffer jacket hanging off the back of his chair.
Image by: Aisyah Muhamad Irfan
It’s lunchtime and the café is abuzz with activity. We’re sat at the far end of the café, for some quiet, save for the toddler running around and slamming himself to the floor on the other side of the glass door we were sat next to. I began with asking him to when his love affair with dance began.
Fariz first took an interest in dance as a child, citing both Michael Jackson and his older cousin, Azizi, as inspirations. He tells me that, as a young boy he would seek out YouTube dance tutorials to teach himself dance moves. He would later enrol himself into a dance course at Camden Summer University whilst still in secondary school. It was during secondary that I had gotten to know him and more specifically his love for dance better.
Image by Fariz Khir
At the time, we were both attending Hampstead School, a state comprehensive in North-West London. In school, Fariz garnered a slight reputation for breaking out in dance at random instances, which is perfectly sound when you consider just how boring school can get for the average teen. I remember him being particularly prone to bouts of tutting (of both the hand and finger varieties), consistently capturing all our classmates’ attention. But back then it was just a hobby, amongst many.
I ask him if he’s had many opportunities to perform in public. “I’ve performed at the Jester Festival [in West Hampstead] with my secondary school and I’ve also taken part in inter-school competitions.” At 16, Fariz would get the opportunity to do a contemporary dance perform for visitors at the Wellcome Collection. His love for the artform started early.
But it wasn’t until Fariz was introduced to Soapbox, Islington, by a classmate, that he would consider dedicating himself to dance. It was at the youth centre that Fariz would the two men who would encourage him along his dance journey. “Mo and Josh taught me a lot, they made me want to perform for the youth centre and dance with them all the time.” Fariz is incredibly fond of Soapbox, having initially planned on showing me around the centre if circumstances had permitted. “It’s a really good centre, they’ve got music studios, a mac lab, 3-D printing facilities…” he excitedly details.
“Soapbox is a tight-knit community youth centre which does what it can to put its young artists out there.” The centre holds live events every Tuesday at their centre. Showcase performances have included: singing, dancing, spoken word recitals, and rapping.
I wanted to know about his experience being a Muslim dancer in London. Fariz tells me that he usually finds himself to be the only Muslim dancer in the room, except from his Sopabox mentor, Mo. But despite that he assures me that he has never felt excluded from the scene. “Project Pac, the collective that I’m part of, were very welcoming. You don’t see things like religion, race or age being an issue because the shared love for dance is usually what draws people together.”
Fariz joined Project Pac, a dance collective founded by Paul Chapman, in its third generation. As part of Project Pac, Fariz has had many opportunities come his way including the chance to work with some of London’s best choreographers. He’s currently vying to for a position in its performance squad. He’s put forward a piece in hopes to perform it for the public at upcoming events the collective is due to perform at. But he doesn’t tell me more than that, perhaps not to jinx his chances.
Check out Fariz’s dancing:
Check out Fariz on Instagram for more dance videos: @_yugure