 |
    |
|
|
 Attakkalari presents 11th Attakkalari India Biennial February 10 - 24, 2024 Bengaluru February 10, 2024 Reflecting the pulse of our times such as the climate emergency, environmental concerns and wars as well as shining a light on the urgent need to find ways to ensure humanity's sustainability and wellness, the 11TH EDITION OF THE ATTAKKALARI INDIA BIENNIAL is bringing an array of international and Indian performances that are cutting-edge and thought provoking, yet entertaining.  Organised in association with the Department of Tourism, Government of Karnataka and supported by Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan Bangalore, Srishti Manipal Institute of Arts, Design and Technology, Embajada de España en India, Consolato Generale d'Italia a Bangalore, Instituto Italiano di Cultura di Mumbai, Ministry of Culture Govt of India, Embassy of Finland New Delhi, Honorary Consulate of Finland, Bangalore, Unboxing Bangalore Habba and Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, New Delhi, Attakkalari India Biennial 2024 has an array of works that will appeal to all ages and all sections of the society. The Attakkalari India Biennial 2024 will officially be inaugurated on 10th February at Attakkalari's scenic lakeside land in NadaPrabhu Kempegowda Layout (near Kengeri) with 'Jeeva Pravaaha' (Flow of Life), a trans-disciplinary outdoor promenade performance with the theme 'CITY KINETIC', focusing on the lives, aspirations, and memories of people of Bengaluru. Schedule FEBRUARY 10, 2024  Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts presents the grand inauguration of the 11th edition of the ATTAKKALARI INDIA BIENNIAL on 10 February 2024. At 2pm, join at 1 Shobha (at the corner of Church Street & St. Mark's Road), and walk with the festive procession adorned by flags created by Ali Pretty (Kinetika, London) & students from Srishti. Dance to live music along Church Street to M.G. Road Metro station. Catch the metro to Kengeri (on the same purple line) and board the free feeder bus service from Kengeri metro station to reach the Sulikere Lake at 4.30pm for a lively 1.1 KM procession to Attakkalari performance site in NadaPrabhu KempeGowda Layout adjacent to KNS OJAS. Immerse yourself in the enchanting melodies of MD Pallavi, Bindhumalini & Vedanth Bharadwaj during a twilight music concert starting at 5.30PM, where the setting sun casts its golden glow over the tranquil lake. Following this at 6.30pm, JEEVA PRAVAAHA will commence - a site specific performance by Attakkalari Dance Company along with students from Srishti and RV University featuring visual projections by renowned Japanese digital artist Kunihiko Matsuo (Founding member of NEST, Tokyo) with images from Chris Ziegler (Germany), Margie Medlin (Australia) and students of Srishti as well as folk dancers and musicians led by Nellai Manikandan. Elevating the ambience, vibrant silk flags and banners crafted by Ali Pretty (Director of Kinetika, London) in collaboration with students from Srishti will adorn the venue, enhancing the overall spectacle of the performance. Note: A feeder bus service is available to take participants from Kengeri Metro station to the performance site and back to the metro station after the performance.. * 2pm: Cultural Procession from 1 Sobha, Church Street & St. Mark's Road * 4:30pm: Cultural Procession and Devarattam Folk Performance, Sulikere Lake to CIPA Site near KNS Ojas, NadaPrabhu Kempegowda Layout * 5:30pm: Music Concert by MD Pallavi, Bindhumalini & Vidanth Bharadwaj, CIPA site, NadaPrabhu Kempegowda Layout * 6:30pm: Jeeva Pravaaha - Flow of Life - A site specific performance, CIPA site, Kempe Gowda Layout, Kengeri In association with Karnataka Tourism Department, JEEVA PRAVAAHA is a collaboration between Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts, Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design & Technology, Unboxing Bangalore Habba, and the Ministry of Culture, Govt of India and Kinetika, London. Info FEBRUARY 12, 2024  As part of the Attakkalari India Biennial 2024, Basel-based dancer Johanna Heusser and Indian movement artist from Arunachal Pradesh, Aseng Borang, are in residency and have been together working towards creating their new work-in-progress. The course of the residency, starting 17 January 2024, hosted at the state-of-the-art studios of Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts, Bangalore, is delineated into a collaborative co-creation as well as a Movement-based Intensive for professional dance students who are enrolled as part of Attakkalari's Diploma in Movement Arts & Pedagogy. The three weeks residency culminates in a showcase, titled DO A DANCE THAT MAKES ME WANNA DANCE WITH YOU at Rangamandala, Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts. This intriguing creation looks at the physiological states and response to euphoria. Johanna and Aseng will present will present their work-in-progress and have a conversation about their process post presentation. Venue: Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts, Wilson Garden, 3pm Info Supported by the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, New Delhi, and in collaboration with Oh La La - Performing Arts Production Management FEBRUARY 16, 2024  Madhu Nataraj's Natya STEM Dance Kampni presents A Double Bill - PALIMPSEST & KALPAVRIKSHA - an exemplary collaboration between Artificial Intelligence and Art as part of ATTAKKALARI INDIA BIENNIAL 2024. This mixed-reality and mixed-media production delves into the urgent issue of environmental ruination in the Anthropocene, addressing the profound impact of climate change. PALIMPSEST subtly jogs through time, invoking a collective call for action. Rooted in esoteric Indo-Buddhist philosophy, the choreography explores the Elemental quintet, both tangible and metaphorically present in the human body and the composition of the universe. Serving as a Spatio-temporal germination board for the climate crisis, the performance engages in dialogues between Dance, Sound design, Tech art, and Artificial Intelligence. The prologue sets the stage by revealing how human footprints now embody Carbon footprints, offering a thought-provoking insight. An evocative segment dedicated to the Water element showcases an AI design responding to the dancers' movements on a molecular level, crafted in collaboration with Beijing/UK-based artist Jiayu Li. A poignant Baul song, narrating tales of leaving homelands, creates a visual landscape for a world in flux, marked by climate migrants and refugees, echoing voices of both hurt and hope. The finale of Palimpsest envisions nature as an eternal wisdom stream, inviting audience interaction to become guides in the journey of rejuvenation and regeneration. This captivating production transcends artistic boundaries to deliver a powerful and immersive experience, urging contemplation and action in the face of our changing world. KALPAVRIKSHA is a choreographic response to the illustrious artist S.G. Vasudev's prodigious receptacle of imagery. 'Vriksha' and 'Rhapsody ', make up this dance dyad. This work doesn't merely excogitate a visual trajectory but is a composite transcreation where movement textures, a sense of drama, poetry and soundscapes merge into a unique choreographic canvas. The tree of life - Vriksha is a ubiquitous presence in Vasudev's work. Karnataka's poet laureate- Da Ra Bendre's poem, Kalpa Vriksha Vrindavanam had a cathartic effect on him way back in 1974 and became a theme that recurs as a leitmotif in his work till today. In the production too, we find ourselves in Bendre's mystical grove, facing the Kalpa Vriksha, seemingly immutable but creating an ecosystem where - He, she, them as Maithuna, fantastical creatures, forest nymphs, children, lamenting partners - all co-exist with undercurrents of love, seduction, loss, fecundity, barrenness, nostalgia, words and silence. Venue: Ranga Shankara, Bengaluru, 7.30pm Info FEBRUARY 17, 2024  Attakkalari India Biennial 2024 presents VENGO JONDO, acclaimed dancer Marco Flores' newest creation. Recipient of the prestigious Spanish National Dance Award, Marco Flores is a distinguished Flamenco dancer and choreographer. His impressive career includes notable contributions as a choreographer for the Ballet Nacional de España and various other esteemed dance companies. Flores's latest creation VENGO JONDO is a nuanced expression that plays with words, embodying qualities such as depth, solidity, austerity, and tangency. In the realm of flamenco slang, it establishes connections with tradition while delving into the artist's profound, personal truths. The piece serves as a reflection of the individuality of the three artists involved, maintaining a strong connection to tradition while adhering to the sincerity of their contemporary language. The performance promises a unique experience, resembling a musical concert structured around the essence of Flamenco. At once it also allows the performers to showcase their diverse musical, dramatic, and dance capacities. Venue: Ranga Shankara, Bengaluru, 7.30pm Info Supported by the Embajada de España en India, with Guesto Living as the hospitality partner. FEBRUARY 18, 2024  Attakkalari India Biennial 2024 brings to you a brilliant production, STUPOROSA, directed by Francesco Marilungo. As Alfonso di Nola writes in La Morte Trionfata, mourning is the set of social practices and psychic processes aroused by the death of a loved one. In the past, mourning was an aspect of social life, a complex system of shared gestures and tears which, through defined codes and ritual practices, allowed the individual to express pain with the support of the community. The disappearance of funeral rites and communal support leaves individuals confronting loss in a stark, isolated manner. Despite the omnipresence of death in our modern world - evident in events like the recent pandemic, wars, and Mediterranean shipwrecks - mourning becomes an existential condition, a pervasive melancholy difficult to process. In this context, the performers of STUPOROSA, directed by Francesco Marilungo, respond with tears. Unmotivated and seemingly without reason, in this exploration, crying becomes the only conceivable reaction to an inevitable state of mourning. The tears take on various nuances, restrained, suffocated, musical, hopeful, and even transforming into a song that echoes the ancient sounds of a Salento funeral lament. Stuporosa becomes a poignant embodiment of the complexities of mourning, transcending individual experiences to articulate a collective, nuanced language of grief. Venue: Ranga Shankara, Bengaluru, 7.30pm Info Supported by the Instituto Italiano di Cultura Mumbai, and is in collaboration with Fabbrica Europa Foundation for The Contemporary Arts. FEBRUARY 18, 2024  Essi Rossi, the Finnish theatre-maker, presents a gripping one-man adaptation of Dalton Trumbo's 1938 anti-war masterpiece, JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN, as part of Attakkalari India Biennial 2024. In the aftermath of a grenade hitting Joe Bonham during WWI, he awakens in a hospital to a devastating reality - his arms, legs, eyes, ears, and mouth are gone. Left as a torso, he grapples with being the living dead, alone with his thoughts. Through Rossi's avant-garde performance, Joe breaks through the silence to share his tragic tale, spanning the tumultuous 1900s - a century marked by growth, violence, and loss. Having fought in the name of liberty, democracy, and his homeland, Joe finds himself questioning the very dreams he was taught to aspire to. This poignant adaptation refuses to take the easy way out, offering a compelling exploration of Joe's journey and the profound impact of war on the individual and society at large. Venue: Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts, Wilson Garden, 3pm Info Supported by the Embassy of Finland, New Delhi, Honorary Consulate of Finland, Bangalore, and in collaboration with Pickle Factory. FEBRUARY 19, 2024  The Attakkalari India Biennial announces the unveiling of the latest updates on NAGARIKA, Attakkalari's pioneering online interactive archive on Indian Somatic Expressions. A collaborative effort between Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts and the Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Bangalore, Nagarika endeavours to meticulously map Indian performance traditions and contemporary somatic expressions. It deconstructs these somatic expressions into intricate movement phrases, accompanied by detailed explanations and guidance on their execution by renowned masters of the art forms. After a cordial welcome by Dr. Michael Heinst, Director of Goethe-Instiut / Max Mueller Bhavan Bangalore, and Jayachandran Palazhy, Artistic Director of Attakkalari, the event will feature Illustrated Updates on the 2nd Phase of the NAGARIKA archive featuring video documentations of beautiful demonstrations by practitioners and insightful explanations on various aspects of their practices by Devarattam artists, presented by Kunihiko Matsuo and Chris Ziegler. This will be followed by a thought-provoking conversation moderated by esteemed writer and philosopher Prof. Sundar Sarukkai, featuring insights from Dr. O. Muthaiah, Professor & Dean, School of Tamil, Indian Languages, and Rural Arts at The Gandhigram Rural Institute, along with Devarattam artists. The evening will culminate with a captivating performance of Devarattam by Kannan Kumaran and his group, complemented by contemporary dance by Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts. Concluding the evening, there will be a reception and get-together for all. Venue: Auditorium, Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Bangalore, 6pm Info: hr@attakkalari.org FEBRUARY 19 - 24, 2024 The Attakkalari India Biennial 2024 presents a CREATIVE RESIDENCY AND CHOREOGRAPHY WORKSHOP led by the Körper Company. This residency & workshop spans 6 days and is open for professional dancers as well as community dance enthusiasts. Venue: Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts, Wilson Garden In collaboration with Crossing The Sea Project and supported by Instituto Italiano di Cultura Mumbai. Info: attakkalaribiennial.org e-mail: festival@attakkalari.org WhatsApp: +91 99729 46273 |
