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Dialogues in the Diaspora speak by NADHI THEKKEK
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CONTENTS
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improvisation, and adding a western instru- ment and music (by cellist Chris Evans.) But I believe the two biggest deviations from bharatanatyam were 1) taking on a political theme based on true eyewitness accounts and 2) partnering with an Indian miniature painter to tell the story. As a result of our partnership, Rupy and I created a lay- ered narrative that reminded people of their own stories of displacement, regardless of background, while we reimagined what was possible with both our traditional forms. Earlier this year I premiered Unfiltered with co-creators Sahasra Sambamoorthi (NYC) and Rasika Kumar (San Jose.) Here we again deviated from convention by tak- ing the experiences of women we knew per- sonally to explore the #metoo movement through bharatanatyam. Rasika’s perspec- tive delved into the power dynamic at work, Sahasra’s perspective explored relationship abuse, and mine examined the complicated emotions of date rape. Because we created depictions that weren’t normally seen in bharatanatyam, all of us had to reinterpret our use of hand gestures and facial expres- sions to describe scenarios that aren’t usu- ally depicted. Think computers, cell phones, trains, and drinks at a bar. We also deviated by using English words to create rhythmic syllables (or jethis) to
bharatanatyam can be used to bridge the cul- tural differences in our communities. Bharatanatyam is becoming increasingly prevalent in the diaspora, with teachers all over the Bay Area. But perhaps because of how tradition can be misperceived as rigid or dated, it’s largely losing relevance in today’s youth, where creativity and thinking outside the box is encouraged. At the same time, it feels like who we are as South Asians in the diaspora is changing. In this era, we are being discriminated against because of our skin color, because of our religion, or because of our legal status, and as a commu- nity we are responding to those injustices. If our art forms are supposed to reflect who we are, then they need to embody our activism. What if it’s not mythology, but history that moves us? What if it’s not a story at all, but an emotion or reaction to what is going on in the world? Could we use bharatanatyam to explore these perspectives, or do we need to redraw the boundaries? In Broken Seeds Still Grow (2017), co-cre- ators Rupy C. Tut and I explored communal violence and divisions in secular communi- ties during the 1947 Partition of British India through visual art and dance. In the choreog- raphy, I retained the bharatanatyam vocab- ulary, expressive mime, and set the dance largely to classical Indian music (composed by GS Rajan). I sidestepped some conventions by deconstructing movement, experimenting with
AS A DANCEMAKER, my chosen form of expres- sion is bharatanatyam, a traditional dance form of South India. Like many traditional art forms, bharatanatyam feels precious, like something that has traveled through time and space but at the same it’s very much alive and changing. There is so much of bharatanatyam that digs deep, that connects the artist and the observer on a personal level. But, as a choreographer, how do I negotiate the boundaries of bharatanatyam to create work that 1) embodies the art form I believe in and 2) reflects my experience as a first generation, American-born, Malayalee, woman? I was born in the US, my first language was English, and I was raised Catholic. Bharatanatyam is an art form from India, danced to Indian languages I couldn’t understand, and draws inspiration from the gods and goddesses of Hindu mythol- ogy. Technically, there is very little about bharatanatyam that is supposed to feel famil- iar to me. But despite my lack of familiarity, bharatanatyam connected me to characters in Hindu mythology and made them relat- able. It explored the human emotions that I saw every day and found them in mythologi- cal stories and ancient poetry. Through these experiences, I’ve seen that bharatanatyam has the kind of power that makes what seems foreign actually seem familiar, and this is one of the primary reasons I believe
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ON THIS PAGE / Dialogues in the Diaspora by Nadhi Thekkek 3 / San Francisco Dance Film Festival by Heather Desaulniers 4 / In Practice: Nina Haft & Company’s Precarious Pod by Sima Belmar 6 / Calendar 8 / Video Tips: Documenting Your Work by Lindsay Gauthier 10 / Terry Sendgraff: We See You Flying! by Anne Bluethenthal and Aileen Moffitt
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