This is Sonali Skandan, Artistic director of Jiva Dance.
We are an NYC-based Indian Classical dance company that works to create new voices and expressions using the classical arts of India. We are so excited to be presenting our new works commissioned for Take Root this November in the beautiful Green Space studio. We are of course thrilled to be supported by a Mertz Gilmore Late Stage Grant facilitated by Green Space.
The works that we will be presenting have had quite a journey - the two works we will be presenting depart from classical presentations of Indian Classical dance, and incorporate elements of modern dance, martial arts and theatre.
The first piece, Elements is a piece very close to my heart. Ever since my childhood, I have found solace and peace in nature. Sometimes I would retreat to the woods to sit on a rock and just listen, sometimes to seek out a new adventure that awaits me. All these years, I took nature for granted, thinking that it will always be there for me, a place to give comfort and peace. My recent trip to Zimbabwe showed me a different story - nature is suffering. As human society “progresses” a heavy price is paid, destroying the harmony with nature that has existed for ages. The scales that were once balanced have shifted, there is destruction, fear and chaos, and the world is at a tipping point. In this piece, I use these metaphors and tie it in with the concept of the Pancha Maha Bhoota - or the five primordial elements as manifested by the Hindu figure, Shiva. The five elements are air, water, earth, fire, space. The piece actually found its first voice through the last winter/spring at the Green Space where I spent countless hours developing the initial vision.
The second new piece, Durga, has been developed with my mentor Maya Kulkarni. It was her vision to depict the iconic female goddess Durga, in a very dramatic and different way. The piece juxtaposes the sowmya or calm nature of the goddess with the fierce of bhairav one. We have used Kalaripayattu (martial art from the southern state of Kerala) to enact the epic battle between the buffalo demon Mahisasura and Durga.The musical score has been commissioned to some stellar NYC based musicians who have scored a masterpiece.
It has been a very rewarding process working with my collaborating artists from choreographer Maya Kulkarni whose vision expands the boundaries of Indian Classical dance, and dancers Anugraha Sridhar (whose voice is featured in the Elements soundtrack) and Swati Prasad who have added their expertise and personal visions into the works. I appreciate how open they were to experiment and try new things and their sheer dedication to the process. We are so happy to be developing and showcasing the work in such a beautiful and inspiring space such as Green Space and look forward to our shows.
- Sonali Skandan