BENGALURU: "It is important to create a brave space and not just a safe place," says Sahiba Singh, founder of Flux, an art studio, who went on a self-discovering journey for a year and a half, after she went through a bad relationship.
During this period, the 34-year-old contemporary dancer collaborated with other artistes, among whom, Seshadri Venugopal played a vital role in starting Flux in October 2019. It is also a place funded by artists who believed in her vision.
According to Singh, the focus is to help people get in touch with their suppressed feelings, be it a trauma, shock, grief and more, through art. "We need to provide a safe, non-judgemental place for people to be able to express themselves and face the world. I am not creating a cave for people to run for shelter," she says, adding that the process that they follow here is a combination of writing, organic body movements and theatre.
Singh makes everyone pen down their issues on paper and work with it through theatre and dance, where the body manifests the emotion. Singh introduces participants to the Xsense programme that is designed for everyone, and goes on to an exclusive physical theatre course and a slow spine class.
"This exercise is to deal with emotions that settle down in pockets somewhere in the body and haven’t found an outlet for a release," she says. Flux has a sustainable approach to the skills being facilitated. It is not a day’s workshop but is spread over months, which then progresses into a volunteering programme and eventually, a festival.
One festival has been planned in May, which will take place in different spots in Indiranagar keeping the studio as the epicentre. “The aim is to build a community. You finish a workshop but can always come back to either practise, create a new programme or just to volunteer,” says Singh.
Twenty-two-year-old Pooja, who is a dance enthusiast and handles Flux’s social media handle, says, “It is a lovely place where you can actually express yourself freely. It also helps an individual as one is given the freedom to ideate. The energy of this place is infectious.”
Another participant, Nisha Prakash, says, “I was taking a sabbatical and wondering what to do when Flux happened. I think I can finally call myself a dancer now. Flux shaped the idea of a hobby into something I was very passionate about. The facilitators are so passionate about what they do that it is not easy for you to not imbibe that. I now also volunteer here.” Some of the other programmes are contemporary dance, aerial yoga, photography and filmmaking.