Freelance dancer / Choreographer / Dance teacher
Farah Deen works as a freelance dancer, choreographer and dance teacher with a focus on hip hop and house dance in Vienna. In 2006 she founded her association and the dance collective Potpourri and subsequently the internationally renowned street dance festival Flavourama in Salzburg. In 2021 she co-founded the BIPoC collective Team Balsam from the urge of making voices of color heard and amplifying them within the predominantly white society of Austria. With her dance, she moves between the expressive richness of Hip Hop and House Dance culture and contemporary art.
From 2015 - 2020 Deen had performed with Hungry Sharks Company on stages all over Europe, the USA and Sri Lanka. She danced at Sadler's Wells Theatre in London, Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, Sibfest Festival in Romania, Festspielhaus Salzburg as well as KoresponDance Festival in Czech Republic, among others. Additionally she has worked with choreographers such as Simon Mayer, Silke Grabinger, Etta Ermini, Imani Rameses and Robert Carsen.
For her artistic work she received the Grant for Dancers and Choreographers from the Federal Chancellery of Austria and in 2019 the AIR Stipend from the City of Salzburg for her research residencies in New York City. In the 2018 yearbook "tanz" - the magazine for ballet, dance and performance - Farah Deen was named "Bearer of Hope 2018" by Helmut Ploebst. In summer 2022 Farah received the danceWEB scholarship by ImPulsTanz Festival Vienna.
With her own company Potpourri Dance she choreographed and performed the theatre pieces Houseward Bound, 4 A.M. and Friend.shift, which was developed during residencies in Switzerland, Austria, France and Senegal. In 2023 Farah Deen dedicates her artistic research to various traditional dances in Sri Lanka