Contemporary moves take stage

The world premiere of ‘Bhinna Vinyasa’ — Attakkalari’s latest production — was recently presented at Gurunanak Bhavan. Showcased as part of the Attakkalari India Biennial 2017, it explored metaphysical journeys prompted by forces within and without.

The programme was choreographed by festival director of Attakkalari India Biennial and artistic director of Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts, Jayachandran Palazhy, and the repertory members.

The evening saw the confluence of music from different backgrounds, digital experimentation and dance par excellence.

Explaining the concept of the performance, Jayachandran said, “I was trying to look at transformation — what happened to people over the years — and present that in image formats. It included everything from literature to visual artforms that were brought together at different time spans. I wanted to tell a story about the human predicament.”

The contemporary dance piece spoke about the philosophy of life and how it is spanning out over the years. It touched upon the points of human lifestyle which also included the day-to-day chores.

About the challenges, he said, “We had to explain the cultural specifications idea to the international audience which was a bit challenging. We had to draw a new path to bring in the balance. But it was perfect as it brought in new possibilities and did not walk on the same broken path each time. We could explore the new realms through this piece.”

The sound score was done by German artiste Martin Lutz. “It was great having him onboard as it helped put together the Indian dance syllables to a contemporary composition. It helped amalgamate memories and past proceeds with the music and visuals,” Jayachandran said.

The Centerstage is the main attraction of the dance festival which presents cutting-edge contemporary dance and digital performances from countries across the world like The Netherlands, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Canada, Korea, Poland, South Africa, Finland and India. The work by Jayachandran traverses the notions of self through a continuous process of becoming and disappearing, where the coordinates of time and space appear elastic.

Tickets for further shows are available at the Attakkalari office and on www.bookmyshow.com
DHNS