Set in an imaginary land oscillating between the past and present, Attakkalari's latest multi-media dance production AadhaaraChakra — a Dancelogue will allow you to partake in a ritualised experience.
It is an attempt to imagine those unsung songs of our past that are littered in the landscape around us. The dancelogue will chronicle the lives of individuals caught in chaotic cityscapes of contemporary India and traverses through the layers of memory they keep in their hearts. After all, they strangely and often subliminally constitute who we are.
"The ruptured and often fragmented lives in contemporary urban cities in India become a catalyst for me to explore these memories we carry in ourselves, often without realising their presence in our midst.
The soundscape of this production also has elements of Indian classical and folk music intricately interwoven with gathered sounds from the surroundings to computer-generated futuristic scores. Therefore one could say AadhaaraChakra — a Dancelogue is truly a multimedia dance production that traverses different time zones and spatial locations mapping human experiences in the process," said Jayachandran Palazhy, who conceived and directed the project.
With the canvas being vast and complex, he chose a 'docu-fiction' narrative structure for the production. Visually, the production employs film, interactive digital technology, specially designed lighting, architecturally fashioned sets made of beautiful silk, costumes ranging from pure traditional cloths to cutting edge fashion attires.
The performance will also see a range of movement vocabulary ranging from folk to classical and martial arts to contemporary moves.
According to him, it is extremely important for a dancer to construct a form that acts as a responsive resonator where the mind, body and spirit are connected.
So, how did the whole concept of AadhaaraChakra come about? Apparently, whenever Jayachandran visited old architectural structures like temples, Islamic shrines and tombs, churches or other monuments, he would often wonder about the people who made the edifices, and what was their life like?
What relevance, associations and meanings do these buildings have in their lives?
Exploring further about life in those periods through literature, visual arts, music, dance and other performing arts, he soon realised that these buildings are indeed physical manifestation of memories.
"It is as though lives of many people and communities and the myriad events, experiences and occasions in their lives are somehow frozen in time and preserved for us to witness. They embody a period and lay witness to many lives and events of those times. In other words, these architectural monuments are spatialisations of memories. One could argue human beings are relatively impermanent carriers of memories. Similarly cities and landscapes also hold stories in them. So, this dancelogue tries to capture all those elements," said Palazhy.