JOIN USExploring intimacy through dance and movement
Produced by Goethe Institute and Supported by Shoonya - Centre for Art and Somatic Practices, ‘Rorschach Touch’, that will be held in the city over the weekend, is an exploration of perception in the context of gendered bodies. The performance will give the audience a sensorial experience brought about by movement and touch. In an interview with Metrolife, Diya Naidu, the lead dancer of the troupe, talks about the making of the production and more.
How did the idea come about?
Every single human being, once upon a time, danced around the fire. There were also sacred dances offered to the gods and goddesses. We even danced to invoke rain and danced for war. This a part of our human tradition. I was interested in knowing how movement or movement performance can be made more accessible for ordinary people. It is just not virtuosic for the sake of being virtuosic. Everybody sleeps, touches and connects, but I found that there was something connecting these two ideas. I thought it would be beautiful to put this on stage and that’s how the production took shape.
What themes have you explored in the production?
Touch becomes the window through which we enter. But human connection becomes the paradigm on which it manifests because intimacy is a big thing. After a bit of research, I found that the word touch or intimacy have been robbed a little bit and placed in the romantic manifestations of these things. We are then forced to acquire a kind of hyper mode which is that it looks unreal. We also look at how incest has been carried on for years in families because nobody has picked it up. Another conversation that the dancers explore is consent because it is such a nuanced and complex thing. We explore this in its entirety. Most of the pieces are extremely detailed and delicate.
What kind of dancers have been roped in?
The cast continues to be very disparate. We have belly dancers, Bharatnatyam exponents, contemporary dancers and actors. We have people from all walks of life. My fantasy is to make this piece work with non-performer bodies as well. But I don’t know if they can sustain the long hours of rehearsal.
I hope to make the same production with people above the age of 60 years. As a part of our training, we have developed a bunch of activities where people are encouraged to use all their senses and intelligence when communicating. We want to make people feel alive.