BENGALURU:The eighth edition of the Attakalari India Biennial will host a range of shows – from performances to seminars and conferences – at different venues in the city from February 3 to 12.
It is said to be the largest and most important contemporary dance festival in all of south Asia, says Jayachandran Palazhy, the artisteic director at Attakkalari.
“It happens once in two years. We visit several festivals from around the world and look at the works of artistes and bring their work to Bengaluru.”
Close to 200 artistes from 20 countries will be participating in the 10-day long festival.
The evening performances will be held at 7.30 pm in different venues such as , Ranga Shankara, Gurunanak Bhavan and Alliance Francaise.
Attakkalari Biennial will also provide a platform to emerging choreographers from the south Asian region to meet and exhibit their talents to an international audience of festival directors, curators, technicians and other artistes.
FACETS, is an international choreography residency that nurtures emerging choreographers to experiment with newer perspectives and fresh themes.
All the FACETS performances are said to take place in Gurunanak Bhavan between February 4 and 5.
Jayachandran says, “Under this category, they produce seven choreographers’ works selectively through panel discussions. They will get the production support, free studio space, production fund and mentorship from international mentors both in choreography, light and set design. The resulting works will be premiered in the Biennial.”
The Performers and their Acts
Parth Bharadwaj
The resident choreographer is producing a piece on the theme of urban life, which involves an actor and a dancer exploring the urban lifestyle. “We are working on the grounds of how unplanned growth and problems in a city affects an individual and their lives. It is about the city, the urban lifestyle, the interaction between the people who make the city.” The ‘actor’ is Dipika Arvind and the ‘dancer’ is Fawaas Ahmed. Parth has participated in FACETS before as a performer but this is his first time directing a piece. The performance is on February 4 at Gurunanak Bhavan.
Sujay Saple
The Mumbai-based choreographer’s interest always relied on movement art. His piece will be exploring the relationship between actions of domestic chores and movements of dance. It is said to be an ‘interactive’ piece with audience’s participation in it. “The audience basically choreograph the piece. There is an interface in the audience and there are choices to be filled. Depending on the audience’s choices, the performance will happen on stage.” There are five dancers in his piece. The performance is on February 4 at Gurunanak Bhavan.
Surabhi Jain
She is choreographing a piece about journeys. “Everything is a journey. When we reach somewhere, the journey doesn’t end as you are doing something else and that becomes another journey. So I am exploring the notion of what is reaching or arriving.”
The piece involves two three people along with Surabhi. The performance is on February 4 at Gurunanak Bhavan.