All posts in Choreography

An Indian contemporary dance piece based on the theme of women empowerment. The “enduring”, the “knowledgeable” and the “powerful” aspects of a woman have been explored and portrayed as Sita, Saraswati and Kali respectively.

Dowry and Sati systems which are prevalent in our so called “advanced” society even today are portrayed. A woman who becomes a victim of such social evils emerges powerful; can choose to achieve success in any field of her choice by sheer determination and will power and thus overcome any such atrocities.

Indian contemporary dance piece performed by the students of The Sheila Kothavala Institute for the Deaf.

Choreographed by Chitra Arvind

Created from the concept of Navarasa, the nine sentiments of love, humour, pathos, fear, bravery, horror, disgust, wonder, and peace is depicted. The different hues of human emotions are shown through the use of masks and mannequin. Power – An Indian contemporary dance piece based on the human thirst for power and eternal glory using ideas of body-mind and spirit-awareness with an integrated approach to movement.

Scarabeji (pronounced as skarabayee) is a secret animal, a small bug in ancient Egypt. In the time of Pharaohs it was believed that to see the scarab fly would bring a person good luck. But to see it fall on its back was considered as a bad omen.

This contemporary dance piece SCARABEYI portrays two such small bugs on their journey through the thick and warm sand of Egypt. The effect of the sand, its texture and the vastness of the desert are the main factors that trigger the movement of the bugs.

Choreographed by Maja Drobac, Croatia in collaboration with the dancers of Rhythmotion.

A traditional Native American object, in Ojibwa (Chippewa) culture, a dream catcher (Ojibwe asabikeshiinh, the inanimate form of the word for “spider” or bawaajige nagwaagan meaning “dream snare”) is a handmade object based on a willow hoop, on which is woven a loose net or web. This is hung above the bed and is then used as a charm to protect sleeping children from nightmares. Dream catchers made of willow and sinew are not meant to last forever but instead are intended to dry out and collapse over time as the child enters the age of adulthood. The Ojibwa believe that a dream catcher changes a person’s dreams. According to a legend “Good dreams pass through the center hole to the sleeping person. The bad dreams are trapped in the web, where they perish in the light of dawn.”

In the contemporary dance piece Dream Catcher, a linear presentation of a series of dream sequences is depicted.

Music credits: Michael Cashmore, Arnaldo Antunes, Clint Mansell, Yannis Kyriakides

Choreographed by Maja Drobac, Croatia in collaboration with the dancers of Rhythmotion

Ganesha, also know as Ganapati is the most loved of all Gods all over the world. This elephant headed God is the son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. He is intelligent, destroyer of all obstacles and has a mouse as his vehicle. Mahaganapatim is presented in the Indian contemporary dance style.

Music by Amit Heri

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A high energy invocatory Indian contemporary dance piece expressing the following verse:

Asato ma sadgamaya
Tamaso ma jyotirgamaya
Mrtyorma amrtam gamaya

Lead me from untruth to Truth.
Lead me from darkness to Light.
Lead me from death to Immortality.

This is a prayer—the seeker’s admission of his sense of limitedness and his heartfelt cry for assistance in transcendence. It is not a prayer for the things of the world. It is not a prayer for food, shelter, health, partnership, riches, success, fame, glory or even for heaven. One who recites these three mantras has realized that such things are full of holes, soaked in pain and, even in abundance, will forever leave him wanting. It is in this full understanding that one turns to this prayer. The essence of each of these three mantras is the same: “O, Guru, help me free myself from my sundry misunderstandings regarding myself, the universe and God and bless me with true knowledge.”

A dance feature in the North Indian classical dance style – Kathak. The following ten principle incarnations of LORD VISHNU are depicted. Matsya, Koorma, Varaaha, Naarasimha, Vaamana, Parasurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Kalki

Music by Shankar Shanbhog

This Indian contemporary dance piece is based on the popular poem Mending Wall by Robert Frost. The poem is talking about how all humans are connected and that it is unnatural for us to be divided. It takes a lot of effort to keep hatred between groups alive. The part about good fences means to protect yourself and hide and keep others away. This is a very unhealthy, unnatural attitude but it is held by religious groups against each other and nations against each other and races against each other. It is sort of a sad poem because the neighbour won’t consider friendship. Instead he repeats old sayings about fences. This piece is a portrayal of Robert Frost trying to tell us to stop building fences and walls between “us” and “them” in whatever ways we are divided or whatever ways we discriminate against each other.

Music by Anooru Anantha Krishna Sharma