Attakkalari's young dancers and choreographers

June 17, 2011

Building on the successful momentum of Attakkalari's Young Choreographers Platform and recognizing the promise of emerging artists, Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions Limited (RBEI) awarded Attakkalari the Robert Bosch Art Grant for a second year in a row in 2010. Under the auspices of this grant, Diya Naidu and Denny Paul, senior dancers from the Attakkalari Repertory Company, were afforded the opportunity to create two solo works which premiered in Bangalore on June 4, 2011.
For her contemporary dance piece 'Nadir,' Diya Naidu explores ideas of isolation and the inescapable fact of bondage within separation. Denny uses an autobiographical perspective to look at the relationship between the past and the present in his piece 'Uyire.' Theatre personalities Sankar Venkateswaran and Koushik Sen worked closely with Denny and Diya respectively and mentored them through their process. Through the Robert Bosch Young Choreographers' Award, Diya and Denny have also collaborated with various artists including Andi and Hannes Teichmann, Jatin Vidyarthi, Shymon Chelad, Asha Fernandez, Samantha Barua, Sarath G and Nimish Jain.

Three emerging choreographers from the Attakkalari Repertory - Ajeesh KB, Santhosh VS and Hema Bharathi Palani presented their piece 'Bangalore - UK postcards' for Low Lives 3, a worldwide, networked, performance event. Low Lives is an international festival of live performance-based works transmitted via the internet and projected in real time at multiple venues across the world. Jorge Rojas, the curator of Low Lives invited Attakkalari - the only Dance Repertory Company ever to be selected from India - to take part in this event. The piece along with more than fifty other performances from across the globe was streamed live online and screened for public viewing at Attakkalari on April 30, 2011.
Low lives
Beyond
The artistes trace their cross cultural exchange with artists in the UK. Through Attakkalari's partnership with Pavilion Dance / Dance South West (Bournemouth) and the South Bank Centre (London), and with support from the British Council's 'Connections through Culture' program, the three choreographers were afforded an engagement with UK artists. Borrowing from material generated through this program, building on their own choreographies and adding their personal travel introspections, the three Attakkalari artists shared their experiences through a contemporary dance performance. In addition to performing, they also led workshops in Kalarippayattu, Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi and Contemporary Dance across the UK. Working with youth from Tower Hamlets London, Ajeesh, Hema and Santhosh led a two week Learning and Participation project 'My London, My India' hosted by the Alchemy Festival at the South Bank Centre.

Jayachandran Palazhy
Senior dancer Ajeesh KB was once again invited to Amsterdam from May 23 to June 2, 2011as a dancer in Emio Greco I PC's ongoing project 'Beyond.' The schedule involved intense rehearsals with three performances in Eindhoven, Amsterdam and Den Haag. Ajeesh's earlier trips with the project had taken him to Amsterdam as well as Korea.

Beyond is a European-Asian cooperative project in the field of creation, presentation and education within the performing arts working around the concept of Tradition and Innovation, inspiring an examination of the physical memories of the body in different cultures. This multi annual project kicked off in February 2009 and it nurtures a growing educational and artistic network that is inspired by the ongoing dialogue between ICKamsterdam and several Asian artists and institutions. The first edition in 2009 was specifically aimed at the exchange with partners from South Korea, in 2010 the exchange took place between ICKamsterdam and mainly Chinese partners, in 2011 the focus is on India.

A former member of the Attakkalari Repertory had worked for three weeks in China again as part of the Beyond project. At the time, Attakkalari's Artistic Director Jayachandran Palazhy was invited to lead a workshop for the participants on his own creative process and the role of Kalarippayattu in Attakkalari's work.