Consciousness takes centrestage
Consciousness is all set to get into the groove as “Chaitanya: A Contemporary Choreographic Work”, brought to us by Sadhya: A Unit of Performing Arts, sets in motion at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi on Friday. A contemporary group dance performance, the 50-minute-long show will unravel a string of whirling bodies on stage that will portray the different dimensions of consciousness and the interconnectedness of the energy of the universe.
Conceived and choreographed by the dynamic duo Nalini Sharma and Santosh Nair respectively, the show promises to be a deliciously electric affair as the performers, the young artistes of Sadhya, will “push their boundaries” to “define and discover” the myriad flow of energy in the universe.
According to Nalini, the idea of the piece is to explore the link between consciousness and energy through the medium of the movement. It will be a constant dialogue on consciousness as there will be no blacking out, with the 10 different sequences of the show seamlessly blending into each other. Nalini says that at Sadhya, the thrust is on creating “thinking dancers” who could “take their audience with them”.
It can be quite challenging to choreograph an abstract show like this. And Santosh knows just how. “It is not a usual theme,” he says. But since this was close to what his artistes do in the studio, they were able to pull it off.
There is a bit of a balancing act that these dancers have to do as they go about striking an equilibrium between movement and stillness, transporting energy from one body to another.
The different segments of the group show, says Santosh, will have a different feel, going from one level to another. As the performers will swing and swerve, move and flow — the carnival of bodies creating a rhythm of its own — they will show the various permutations of cosmic energy. The show will open with a solo performer, who will be then joined by other performers. In the end, the same solo performer blend into a jumble of bodies, slowly merging into each other to take the form of a single body.
“It will be like coming full circle. This will create a centrepoint and an aura of stillness,” says Santosh.
The show will feature music by Upmanyu Bhanot and lights by Milind Shrivastava.
Soumit and Soumita, who are collaborating with Sadhya for the first time, zoom in on the performers for some quality “imaging experience”. Their photographs, says Santosh, will be on display at the venue (Stein Auditorium).
As consciousness takes centrestage, joining hands with the yin and yang of the universe, it will not be without some visual impact. And talking to Nalini and Santosh, it seems there is a lot of that in store for the viewers to revel in.
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