Get ready for the three-day boutique international performing arts festival, Connections 2019 that begins at Shri Ram Centre for Performing Arts, Mandi House today. An annual international performing arts festival that brings different cultures together through innovative collaborations, it gains importance not just from the point of view of arts but also because it helps bring different people, thoughts, cultures under one roof and thus help in bridging the divide that exists between them. Arriving this year for you are two groups, Remi Panossian Jazz Trio from France and Beijing Dance Academy (BDA) from China.
The festival will begin with a performance by Remi Panossian Jazz Trio. The trio has earlier performed at Montreal Jazz Festival, London Sunfest, New Morning and Olympia Halls in Paris, Tokyo jazz festival, Nanjing jazz festival…There is a sense of great fluidity in their music, where strong melody opens out into thrilling collective improvisations.
On the second and third day, Beijing Dance Academy, one of the premier dance institutes of the world, will enthrall the audiences. This dance academy is coming to India for the first time. The aesthetics of their performances come from Chinese martial arts, acrobatics, ancient poetry, paintings and drama.
“The BDA is one of the premier dance institutes of the world and they are coming to India for the first time,” says Bharatnatayam dancer and choreographer Rukmini Chatterjee, who is also the brain behind Connections.
How did she zero in on these two groups?
“In the last two-and-a-half years, I have visited China a lot as an artiste, and I realized that India and China have a lot in common. Since both the countries have Eastern genes, our cultures, ethos and the way of life is pretty similar. In fact, what we appreciate in life is also similar. But very little of Chinese art is known in India, despite the fact that we are neighbours. So I thought it would be amazing to bring them here for Indian audiences,” she adds.
Bringing French jazz was a foregone conclusion since Rukmini herself is French.
“I have lived in France for 25 years, it’s my homeland. And French Jazz group is amazing. What is peculiar to them is they have brilliant melodies, which I am sure will tug at Indians’ hearts,” she says.
“We love India and find Indians very musically inclined people. So we are looking to woo Delhi audiences with our music and give them an exhilarating experience,” says Remi Panossian of the Remi Panossian Jazz Trio.
It was in 2014 that Rukmini started visiting India more frequently. During that time she realized the great disconnect that exists between art and culture of the two nations, “even though both are connected deeply at the emotional and intellectual level”. It was then that she began conceptualizing this art festival.
Rukmini wanted to expose Indian audiences to new forms of creativity, and did succeed in doing that. Connections 2019 is the fifth season of the festival, and in last four years, Rukmini has managed to bring dancers from the Opera of Paris, Contemporary Circus, Norwegian pop/ rock music, Contemporary Flamenco etc to Delhi. “The fact that we have repeat audiences for this festival shows that people are loving what we bring for them,” says Rukmini.