BENGALURU: This weekend, get ready to get moving. Two Bengalureans, Sarena Beri and Rohan Jacob, are organising a flow arts festival, wherein participants can learn various art forms like poi, capoeira, prop dance, juggling and more. In its second edition, the two-day festival will have eight live classes on Zoom, taking place for an hour each. For Jacob, promoting the nascent field of flow arts in India is one of the sole purposes of this event.
Explaining how flow arts often involves manipulation of various objects – such as sticks, staffs, balls, hula hoops, rope darts, etc – Jacob, whose stage name is Yacobeh, points out that one thing remains common in the different variants of flow art – movement. “There’s fluid and graceful body movement in all of them,” says the former techie, whose journey with the art form began in 2014. “It’s a holistic art form since it helps both your mind and body. The repetitive practice of a move, combined with determination and focus really help put you in the zone,” he explains.
Currently, Jacob runs IndieFlow with his partner Beri, through which the two flow artistes and fire performers organised the first edition of the festival last year. While an offline medium works best for this movement intense classes, Jacob is, quite literally, going with the flow by adapting to current times. “We had to keep the ball rolling by going online. As long as someone has good internet connection and a camera, they will be fine,” he says, adding that the classes are aimed at beginners.
The classes will be taken by eight instructors, most of whom are from Bengaluru, while one is from Chennai. According to Jacob, during meetups organised in the city, about 15-20 people interested in flow arts often show up. In Mumbai or Delhi, the number stands at just 3-5. “Bengaluru seems to be the hub of flow arts,” he says, adding that so far, the event has seen enquiries from Himachal Pradesh as well.