Medea combines contemporary, classical and folk elements reflected not only in the dance but also in the diversity of her rich repertoire of music, costume and make-up. Persian literature, her own rich life experience and her acute perceptions are the resources for Medea’s expressive choreography. A hallmark of her work is its collaborative aspect, working with composers, writers and visual artists, to produce a dynamic and theatrical performance.

Medea Mahdavi’s contribution to dance:

• creating collaborative work, raising the profile and pushing the boundaries of dance across a range of artforms. For example, dance and choreography with sculptors, composers, poets/playwrights, including, Philip Gross, Tim Garside, Ralph Hoyte, Hossein Iraji, Ibrahim Al-Manyawi, Will Menter, Andy Sheppard.
• producing ‘Ghazala’ directory of Middle Eastern dance in the UK.
• establishing a unique archive of Middle Eastern dance material at the National Resource Centre for Dance, University of Surrey.
• ‘Majma’ Middle Eastern dance festival was inspired and founded by Medea and originally administered by Somerset Dance.
• Medea is instrumental in putting Bristol on the map as a centre of excellence for Middle Eastern dance.
• taking established artists into schools to collaborate with pupils in a series of high quality arts/education programmes promoting racial harmony and equal opportunities through dance; writing and education work.

Venues for Medea’s recent performances and workshops include:

DanceXchange; Swindon Dance; British Museum; Sadler’s Wells - London; Barbican and Royal Festival Hall - London; WOMAD - Spain, Canary Islands, Morecambe Bay, and Reading; Los Angeles, Anaheim and Manhattan Town Hall, USA; Campus, Devon; NADN - Durham; Cornwall Dance Festival; Yorkshire DanceCentre; Prema Arts Centre; Exeter & Devon Arts Centre; Arnolfini and QEH Theatre, Bristol; Glastonbury Dance Festival; Michael Tippett Centre, Bath; BBC TV ‘Children in Need’; Wire TV (cable), Channel 4 TV; Festival Hall, London; Berkeley Centre, Bristol, HTV Arts programme, Year of the Artist feature.