Two contemporary dancers -- Poorna Swami and Dayita Nereyeth – come together to present “Citations: Three Dances” -- this evening at Shoonya.
The duo start off by explaining what the show will comprise. “The evening will begin with a solo by me. Called ‘Cartography’, it is a combination of performance and text,” starts 25-year-old Poorna. The music for her piece is composed by Marcel Zaes. This work of Poorna’s was also premiered at the 2016 La MaMa Moves! Dance Festival, New York City.
Dayita explains her role in the show saying, “I will present a solo piece titled ‘Pants Becoming Kites’. This is jointly choreographed by Ellen Oliver and me. It has music by Dylan Eldredge Fitzwater. While these two pieces will be presented on a conventional proscenium stage, the final piece – ‘Long Time No See’-- will be performed on a traverse stage, where the audience is on two sides of the stage or venue.” She goes on to add, “We both will not be on the same side and they have to choose who they want to see as our moves will be spread across the length of the venue.”
But what if the audience is left confused about whom to watch? “The idea is to show what we have created. To show two different styles and yet how they can come together. It is for them to decide in the third piece as to what style they want to watch,” says Poorna.
The artists elaborate on what contemporary means to them. Poorna, who has learnt Bharatanatya for 17 years from Minal Prabhu and Hamsa Moily, says she took to contemporary dance in college – Mount Holyoke College, US. “I found Bharatanatya was not satisfying in the kind of vocabulary I wanted to explore and use in my choreographies. So studying contemporary dance in the US helped me find new ways to express myself using my body and discover a variety of expressions,” recalls poorna who is also a writer. She also believes that contemporary dance draws from different references and is defined by the place and the dancer who is performing it.
Does that mean that her choreography will draw from classical Bharatantaya? “Definitely, you will find traces of that in my moves. The moves are not always pretty or stylised,” adds Poorna. Dayita, on the other hand, is trained in classical ballet. She started at the age of six with Yana Lewis. “We both studied in the same college in the US and have been friends since we were children. But never did we collaborate as dancers even though we have shared the stage. Hence, we decided to come together for this show,” explains Dayita who has a BA in Dance and Psychology from Mount Holyoke College.
Dayita, who loves ballet and the contemporary repertoire, believes, “Contemporary gives you a chance to devise your work as you go along.”
(“Citations: Three Dances” will be staged this evening at 7.30 pm at Shoonya. Tickets are priced at Rs. 200. For details log on to https://www.instamojo.com/shoonya/ citations-three-dances/)