Contemporary da-nce in classical dance vocabulary evokes an altogether new meaning when it comes to dance experimentation. A dance platform where one experiments with the classical idioms while evolving contemporary choreography is what the “IGNITE” dance festival offers for the very first time in New Delhi from November 10 to 13. Organised by the Gati dance forum, the festival will offer an interesting perspective to contemporary dance. The four-day festival will showcase an intensive series of performances, workshops, lecture demonstrations and discussions. It will bring together some of the most exciting work characterised by cutting-edge choreography and conceptualisation.
Anusha Lall, director of Gati, says that “IGNITE” is for the propelling a change in contemporary dance in the Indian vocabulary. And the platform is unique, as it extensively focuses on the creation and choreography aspect. “There are many platforms for artistes to showcase their dance forms and we have some prestigious festivals. However, there are hardly any events that look into the creativity aspect of it and provide a sound understanding of the dance form,” says Lall. It is a platform where dancers can share skills, imbibe new ones and come together to express their mind. “‘IGNITE’ provides an open forum for discussion where exchange of ideas between some of the most creative minds can happen. We have regular classes and workshops and there will seminars as well,” adds Lall.
The festival has an interesting line-up of performances bringing forth some of the spectacular work by dancers in recent times. Navtej Johar, a Bharatnatyam dancer, will be presenting “Grey is also a colour,” which is a dance and theatre piece based on a novel by Dorris Lessing that speaks about crossing boundaries and breaking human entanglement. “It is a contemporary piece and quite relevant,” says Johar. By relevance he means to be with time.
Though the idea of contemporary dance comes primarily from the West, considering that they have popularised the medium, Johar believes that contemporary dance in India will be explored through its classical medium. “It is something that suits our bodies. We are trying to form our own idioms in the context that we live in,” enthuses Johar. It’s more like the exploring the contemporary nuances of classical dance.
Close on the heels is Kathak dancer Aditi Mangaldas who prefers to call her production contemporary dance based on Kathak. Her dance company will be performing a dance production “Timeless” which is a set of questions posed to oneself and others — is time reversible, or can it flow? Delving deeper it also questions the very existence of time and if it can be circular or is there a continuous flow. Mangaldas strongly believes in the fact that contemporary dance is about exploring the energy in the classical medium. “I don’t believe in fusion and there is a search for contemporary within the classical vocabulary. We do learn and practise Yoga and even martial art forms like Kalari, which facilitates the dance movement. But I do believe in a strong grounding with classical dance. If the base is strong one can experiment with clarity,” reasons Mangaldas.
Rajyashree Ramamurthi however believes that although her training in Odissi helped her immensely, she found her calling in the contemporary style. “I won’t say that I am trying to explore within the classical idiom but contemporary style is what echoes my thoughts and sentiments,” says Ramamurthi. Her production “In the light of Irom Sharmila” is about reliving the struggle of Manipuri satyragrahi Irom Sharmila. “It is not a descriptive piece,” she states as a matter of fact. Ramamurthi came across a documentary on Irom Sharmila, which got her curious to know about Sharmila and read extensively on her. “I was moved by her experience and struggle and felt the need to present it to the audience in the present times,” says Ramamurthi. The setup is an interesting one with 400 strings and ropes hanging on the stage.
“The installations make the dance more interactive with the audience and they feel involved with me. I got feedback from my stage show about incorporating the installations and having a closer audience. The installations do make a difference and hopefully should be quite an experience,” she adds while talking about the visual elements used in her production.
“IGNITE” presents a section — Emerging Artistes — which has promising young dancers exploding in to the scene with some innovative choreography. One of them happens to be Lokesh Bhardwaj who is presenting “Rememory” inspired by Patanjali’s Yoga sutras and one of the sutras talks about memory. “It is about recalling one’s memories and understanding oneself through those memories,” says Bhardwaj. He believes that classical techniques are extensively used in contemporary form and but we are still finding our feet when it comes to contemporary dancing.
“The West has always explored such concepts and we are still somewhere in between trying to find a middle ground. It is encouraging to see so much of interesting work happening and I think this is a perfect platform for artistes to present their most creativework,” says Bhardwaj.