Art & Bullshit at Attakkalari Biennial 2011

Attakkalari Biennial 2011, a ten day  International festival held in Bangalore between the of 28th January and the 6th of February featured some of the best contemporary work from across the globe. With high lights such as dance films, young choreographers platform, dance writing workshops, choreography laboratories, seminars and International collaborations,  the festival catered to the needs of contemporary artists and art lovers on multiple levels. the performance at Ranga Shankara on the third day of the festival was 'a mixed bill of 6 choreographic works that enabled the exchange of three artists from the UK and three Indian choreographers as part of the UK- India- Connecting through Cultural Programme

Uruvam', solo by Hemabharathy Palani developed under the auspice of the Robert Bosch Art Grant 2009 tried to focus on the theme of anguish and the giving up of one's body and sexual identity in order to access a greater range of rights and actions. She uses fabric as a symbolic representation of sexual identities as she sheds them one after another aiming to convince the spectators of a 'self' without a body and identity. Hema speaks with a  unique movement language that has strong and grounded technique in Kuchipudi and she executes every move with strength and poise. The music is characterized by the  clap of the Heijras or eunuchs while random meaningless projections by Matsuo Kunihiko ( Japanese digital artist)  adds  layers to this multi media piece.

The next piece begins with  someone from the audience throwing a piece of bread on stage. Perplexed! you look for the culprit who dared to perform this forbidden act. Its a young black man and he does it again and again . He staggers on to the stage, places a white plastic brick with a fake bird perched on it and talks to us in a British accent  interjected with bird calls.In  Freddie Opoku - Addaie's  solo ' A flightless solo' ,his chiseled body alights on his hands and he pecks on the food thrown on stage. He reads to us from a tiny book about the intellectuality of bullshit .  His movements are limited to finding bird food and partner work with  an inanimate object. "Producing, producing.." he chants while he distributes plastic bags to a few members of the audience who receive the crap given to them without questions or defense.Finally he proclaims that producing art is bullshit while the audience responds with laughter at his honesty. As a  spectator he dares to walk on stage to dissolve the transparent wall that exists between us. It did not matter if he was Black or British , he boldly voiced the contemporary state of art today. He did not question or pose a threat He just suspended the sword of sharp reality over our head.

'Rush' by Ajeesh . K . Balakrishnan's choreographic work, revolved around those bound by routine drudgery in a world devoid of imagination. The profundity of the concept was lost in the execution and the dance looked more like a section from a bollywood film with its cinematic music , bad costumes and overacting.

'Padheyam' choreographed by Santhosh V.S of Attakkalari Repertory was another example of amateur choreography where the dancers kept losing balance and control while lifting each other. A pathway of light was designed to weave on the ideas of journey and  encounters in life. The choreography hardly had any inventiveness with no importance assigned to the gestures of Bharatnatyam  that kept appearing randomly in the piece.

'Across the souvenir' by Alesandra Seutin was like a guided tour  through the choreographers' memories. A unique movement vocabulary that translated the rawness of her African origin, the visuals that transported the audience to the places she had visited and a surreal execution that gave an insight into her imagination.The concluding performance ' Single act'  was inspired by the personal experiences of British Lao choreographer Khamlane Halsackda .The fragmented narration was coupled  with a movement vocabulary  inspired by real-life situations.He recalls and shares his memories of  childhood, relationships and what love means to him and perhaps to each one of us.

6 diverse choreographic works stacked next to each other had a saturating effect on the audience. Many works had to be watched in isolation and a few pieces lacked depth and due research. While many performances delved into  issues of identity, sexuality , performance and individuality of the contemporary,  some of the amateur choreographers who were new to  exploration in choreographic work simply failed to represent the best of young Indian choreographers on this occasion.

Parivahitham- Dancing through trouble times

Photo courtesy- Shreekanth.L.Rao

Parivahitham- Dancing through trouble times

A Kolkata based dance company gave their best performance with almost no technical support at the performance space.

 In their latest Indo-Swiss production 'Parivahitham', Sapphire creations dance workshop, a Kolkata based dance company collaborated with Swiss musician, Marc Rossier resulting in a  marriage of music and movement. Artistic Director and Choreographer of the company ,Sudarshan Chakravorty presented his piece  with five of his company dancers on 19th of Dec 2010 in Bangalore at Freedom Park Amphi Theatre 

Slow and insightful , a  female dancer draws the audience into the piece with her solo, where she awakens every cell of her body  preparing it for a  long journey ahead of her and the music becomes a reflection of her state of being. The piece introduced every individual through solos that translated  their personal discomfort into their bodies. Movements drawn from physical disabilities, pain and emotional fluctuations highlight the piece. It gradually picks up momentum with strong lines and gestures of Bharatanatyam subjected to suspension and velocity,  interwoven with handstands, cartwheels, rolls , falls and partner work. 

Many sections done in unison looked superimposed on the dancers and the lack of strong technique in Bharatnatyam  is very transparent in the performers. The  dancers Paramita Saha, Dibyendu Nath, Nikita Bhattacharya and Koushik Das though seemed a bit self indulgent at times had a lovely stage presence and executed the piece with confidence, while Ankita Duttagupta simply kept the audience engaged throughout the piece with  her beautiful lines and strong focus. In India Choreographic work  that features a strong classical movement vocabulary subjected to various western movement techniques is not a new concept anymore, however the piece had its moments of magic when every dancer's individuality characterized by a unique music score surfaced brilliantly in the piece.

Music in contemporary dance has almost become synonymous with orchestrated sounds and noise. Live music can be wonderful expressive tool adding to the intensity of a piece to truly explore the magic of 'live' performance.

It was  Marc's first collaboration with an Indian company and he came sans expectations to work with Sapphire Creations. Though he was not part of the entire creative process, he stepped into the piece when the choreography was completely set and composed music based on discussions with the choreographer and watching rehearsals. He observed every dancer and played  based on the emotional essence of the choreography.He played his guitar with rhythmic patterns playing in tandem with the dancers and also going against the flow of movement.His music was another fixed dancer on stage where composition interacted with choreography through harmony, contrast and silence.

The lack of technical support at the Freedom park Amphi theatre disintegrated the sections that were designed to be done in specific lights. The lack of wooden floor made the dancers move cautiously for they had to prevent themselves from getting injured on a hard concrete floor. The acoustics required for an open space were absent, making Marc's job much more difficult. The piece  designed for a proscenium theatre space failed to make an impact on the audience due to lack of appropriate lights and sound. 'Parivahitham'  aimed to explore movement  through  troubled times  hoping for a constructive, positive and meaningful time in the near future and their performance with deficient organization at the venue allowed them to  literally experience the essence of the piece.