ABOUT ME
Anokha: the art of being unique
It was just another afternoon in her teens, but one of those that changed everything. Curious and passionate about sounds from around the world, she let herself be carried away by beats that defied boundaries. It was then that a friend lent her a CD with a vibrant cover: “Anokha – The Asian Underground”, by Talvin Singh.
When she heard the first track, she felt transported. It was as if her roots and dreams collided in the same sound space – a fusion of tradition and future. At that moment, one word was engraved in her soul: Anokha.
Without knowing what it meant, but feeling that it defined her, she took it as her artistic name. Years later, a pen mate from India revealed its meaning to her: rare, different, unique. What had begun as an instinct now revealed itself to be a reflection of her essence.
Her connection with music goes way back. The daughter of a talented bassist, she grew up surrounded by rehearsals, stages and melodies. The sound of her father’s bass was the soundtrack of her childhood – and also a silent standard of excellence. Each dance production she creates, with attention to detail, is a tribute to him. A gesture of love and continuity.
But Anokha is not limited to dance. Her artistic sensibility has also led her to photography, especially maternity photography. Her project, Imago Materna , captures the serene and powerful beauty of pregnancy – the beginning of other stories, of other worlds.
This is what being Anokha is all about: celebrating difference, honoring legacy, and creating art that touches and transforms.
The Artistic Journey and Transformation of Oriental Dance
From the stages of Lisbon to the vibes of London, Anokha has been shaping her artistic identity with every step.
His dance knows no boundaries. In Portugal and the United Kingdom, he has conquered stages with vibrant energy, creating bonds that unite global rhythms and unique experiences. Among these collaborations, remarkable moments stand out with the acclaimed Gypsy Hill and Atma, where the fusion of sound and movement created true cultural celebrations on stage.
But it was in her partnership with the Diana Rego Dance Company that her universe expanded even further. Immersed in the fusion of world dances, Anokha found a fertile space there to deepen her artistic expression and enrich her creative vocabulary. Each show became a meeting place between cultures, stories and emotions.
His dance is more than just technique — it is a reflection of experiences, encounters and the courage to reinvent himself with each step.
Education and International Recognition
London was more than a city – it was a gateway.
During her time in the British capital, Anokha not only deepened her academic knowledge, obtaining a degree in Event, Music and Media Management from London Metropolitan University, but also immersed herself in a journey of self-knowledge and spiritual expansion.
It was during her time in London that she created one of her most remarkable works: the choreography "Celebration of the Sacred Feminine". This project, which would later be praised by The Guardian as "a surprising avant-garde example of oriental dance", was born from in-depth research into the spiritual roots of belly dance.
Inspired by the traditions of North Africa and ancient matriarchal cultures, Anokha rediscovered dance as a rite of passage, a sacred practice to prepare the female body for childbirth. Far from modern entertainment, these dances were ritualistic gestures of connection with the divine feminine, in a time when women were priestesses and guardians of the cycle of life.
For Anokha, this work represented much more than a performance: it was an act of reconnection with the ancestral essence of dance and a tribute to the women who, in silence, kept the wisdom of the body alive.
Notable Collaborations and Artistic Creations of Oriental Dance
To collaborate is to create together – and for Anokha, this gesture is sacred.
Throughout her career, Anokha has constantly sought to cross paths with other creators, elevating both her work and that of those around her. One of these memorable partnerships was with the Canadian artist Adham Shaikh, a world ambient fusion producer. Together, they brought to life the release of the album “Basswalla” with a video of the same name, in which Anokha – here referred to by her real name, Rita Coxe – shone as a choreographer, dancer and producer. This transcontinental collaboration revealed a rare synergy between sound and movement, tradition and innovation.
But her impact did not stop there.
In Lisbon, she created a space for the celebration of cultural diversity through dance. Hafla Tarab, an event she co-founded and produced, became a landmark in the Portuguese artistic scene of oriental dance, fusion and other dances from around the world. For 16 years, this event has brought together amateurs and professionals on a vibrant stage, where oriental dance, Fusion Belly Dance (formerly known as Tribal Fusion) and other dances from around the world have come together in a spectacle of sharing and empowerment.
More than just an artist, Anokha has established herself as a cultural visionary – someone who not only dances, but builds bridges, celebrates origins and imagines futures.
Artistic Vision and Exploration of Oriental Fusion Dance
Time, earth and the future dance in Anokha's body.
Her style is a living tapestry, woven with the colours of classical and folkloric Oriental Dance, intertwined with the rhythms of Fusion Belly Dance, Indian Odissi dance and electronic echoes that vibrate in the present. Each step is a bridge between cultures; each gesture, an invocation of roots and a reinvention.
Anokha dances to show that fusion is possible – and necessary. That tradition does not oppose innovation, but rather feeds it. Her work, deeply experimental, draws on electronic music to re-imagine belly dance as a contemporary, open and living language.
More than choreographies, her creations are sensory experiences: landscapes where the body tells women's stories, ancient rituals, soundscapes and visions of a world where art dissolves borders.
In this encounter between the ancestral and the digital, between the intimate and the universal, Anokha's art is born: a dance that is not only seen – it is felt.