A cocktail of slam poetry, freestyle dance & singing

Unique show

Not a weekend goes by in Bengaluru without a slam poetry open mic or informal sessions where people gather to share their love for the art. This week, Bengaluru’s  wordsmiths will get to experience poetry, dance and music in a single show.

Nupur Saraswat, an environmental engineer and performance poet from Singapore and Kate Black-Regan, performance artiste from USA will be combining slam poetry with freestyle dance and singing in their experimental show ‘The Fierce in My Family’. The 30-minute show on Thursday at The Humming Tree, Indiranagar, will bring theatrics and social activism into the poetry scene.

Nupur and Kate described their piece as bold, feminist and outspoken. Four of the seven pieces for the show were written in collaboration and they are all about the fierce men and women in their lives. While one of them performs the poem, the other will supplement with dance or vocals, they said.

“We come from different countries and have had different upbringing, yet the people we were inspired by are so similar,” Nupur said, about the inspiration behind the theme.

Self-taught feminist

One of the fierce people in Saraswat’s life is her mother, who adopted her cousins and raised four children all by herself. Even Kate is inspired by her mother, a self-taught feminist who was raised in India.

Nupur finds performing in her home country more rewarding than in Singapore. “There people may clap a little during your performance and if they want to appreciate it, they will come and tell you personally after the show. But in India, the audience make their feelings very clear,” she said.

The crowds here know no middle ground- they either cheer for you or boo you off the stage, especially if you make political statements, she said. The duo will be performing at the ‘Books & Brews’ event in The Humming Tree, Indiranagar at 7.30 pm on Thursday.