CHOREOGRAPHIC WORKS & PROJECTS
Sanket (2019- ongoing)
This R&D project is an exciting experimentation with movement, visual arts and music exploring the connection of cardinal directions to human consciousness. It is an attempt to create a choreographic work sensitized to the spatial directions and responds and adapts to changing space and direction. It is a new piece of contemporary Kathak work fusing traditional technique with contemporary staging, structural devices and themes.
This exciting collaboration features:
Dancer Shyam Dattani
Winner South Asian Category of BBC Young Dancer 2017, at the Grand Final at Sadler’s Wells and secured second place in the Kalaashram Kathak Contest, European Leg 2017.
Dancer Archita Kumar
Archita Kumar is a dancer and composer based in London and recipient of the Bonnie Bird Marion North Choreographic Mentoring Award.
Dancer Meena Anand
An accomplished Bharatanatyam exponent, Meena Selva Anand, worked as an independent dancer maker and teacher student of Guru Sujata Banerjee in Kathak dance form.
Mentor – Debbie Fionbarr
Choreographer and Dance Maker
Producer – Danielle Corbishley
A freelance creative producer, director, performer, lecturer and audience development specialist working across a range of contemporary art forms.
The first draft of work will be presented in ‘Moving With The Times’ in Pegasus Theatre in Spring 2020.
The work is supported by Arts Council’s National Lottery Fund and Oxford Dance Forums’ Evolution fund. It is also Supported by Dance Reading.
Re-Textured (2018)
Re-defining and creating new paradigms within the traditional Kathak form, this piece minutely explores the textures and formulations of rhythm and reformats the movements in space and time.
This multi layered piece traverses the length and breadth of the established rhythm structures within the form and creates space for reinterpretation and transformation of the movements through the prism of modern experiences and aesthetics. It was firsts presented in Offbeat Festival in 2018.
The review of both Aur Ek Antaraal and Re-Textured can be found here.
Antaraal/Aur Ek Antaraal (2016-2018)
Antaraal that translates to Suspension, is a contemporary Kathak work that explored the movement as experienced through spaces in between. It was a collaboration between composer Malcolm Atkins and poet Mohan Rana. The work first premiered in ‘Moving With The Times’ 2016 in Oxford, and in ‘The Resolution’ at The Place in London.
The work was the re-developed into a new work Auk Ek Antaraal, an interpretive dance piece exploring the nuances of contemporary Hindi Poem Aur Ek Antraal, penned by India based poetess Dr Rashmi Chaturvedi and set to the music of well known Classical Indian music Composer Gulshan Bharati and Hem Singh.
This work was recently presented in the Offbeat Festival 2018, at Old Fire Station in Oxford.
Silent Melody (2014)
This piece is a work in progress. It is a lively interaction of Bharatanatyam, an ancient dance form of South Indian state of Tamil Nadu and Kathak, in an attempt to recreate vivid and vibrant imageries of ancient temple sculptures and painting. It is a contemporary interpretation of the imageries through echoing movements and extensions within the respective dance traditions.
This piece along with another of my contemporary Kathak piece ‘Quicksilver’ featured in Mini dance Festival Golive curated by Donald Hutera in Burton Taylor studio Oxford, in July 2015.
The review by Nicholas Mins can be found here.
Panchtatva (2013)
This choreographic work explores the five esoteric elements and their association with our senses through a dynamic interaction of dance and digital media. It is a series of short dance pieces designed to explore the ancient Indian thought that all creation, including the human body, is made up of five essential elements – earth, fire, water, space and air and that upon death, the human body dissolves into these five elements of nature, thereby balancing the cycle of nature.
While all ancient traditions across the globe have their own interpretation of five elements, the underlying strain of belief is universal:
1. The five cosmic elements constitute the building block of life as we know.
In essence are also related to our five senses of smell, taste, hearing, touch, and sight.
2. The work was the re-developed into a new work Auk Ek Antaraal, an interpretive dance piece exploring the nuances of contemporary Hindi Poem Aur Ek Antraal, penned by India based poetess Dr Rashmi Chaturvedi and set to the music of well known Classical Indian music Composer Gulshan Bharati and Hem Singh.
This work was recently presented in the Offbeat Festival 2018, at Old Fire Station in Oxford.
Presence (2013)
A collaboration of Kathak and Ballet, a serendipitous encounter with Ballet dancer Ségolène Tarte, where, rather than attempting to blend Kathak and Ballet, each dance form remains close to its own tradition whilst establishing a subtle dialogue.
From this dialogue, the refined presence of each tradition emerges into a harmonious duet, a subtle opening of doors to discovery and understanding. This work was both ground-breaking and enthralling.
The review of the piece can be found here at Oxford Dance Writers Blog.
Quicksilver (2011)
Antaraal that translates to Suspension, is a contemporary Kathak work that explored the movement as experienced through spaces in between. It was a collaboration between composer Malcolm Atkins and poet Mohan Rana. The work first premiered in ‘Moving With The Times’ 2016 in Oxford, and in ‘The Resolution’ at The Place in London.
The work was the re-developed into a new work Auk Ek Antaraal, an interpretive dance piece exploring the nuances of contemporary Hindi Poem Aur Ek Antraal, penned by India based poetess Dr Rashmi Chaturvedi and set to the music of well known Classical Indian music Composer Gulshan Bharati and Hem Singh.
This work was recently presented in the Offbeat Festival 2018, at Old Fire Station in Oxford.
Ritu Chakra (2011)
This choreographic piece was presented in ‘Moving with the times 2011’ organized jointly by Oxford Dance Forum and Pegasus theatre. Ritu Chakra explores the concept of ‘moving with the times’ by celebrating Spring through an interpretive Kathak piece choreographed to music composition and narration by Oxford based musicians Malcolm Atkins and improvisation of Malcolm Atkins and Pete McPhail.
The review can be found here.
Utsav (2010)
Antaraal that translates to Suspension, is a contemporary Kathak work that explored the movement as experienced through spaces in between. It was a collaboration between composer Malcolm Atkins and poet Mohan Rana. The work first premiered in ‘Moving With The Times’ 2016 in Oxford, and in ‘The Resolution’ at The Place in London.
The work was the re-developed into a new work Auk Ek Antaraal, an interpretive dance piece exploring the nuances of contemporary Hindi Poem Aur Ek Antraal, penned by India based poetess Dr Rashmi Chaturvedi and set to the music of well known Classical Indian music Composer Gulshan Bharati and Hem Singh.
This work was recently presented in the Offbeat Festival 2018, at Old Fire Station in Oxford.
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