Scheduled to be held from January 25th through to February 3rd, 2013 across various locations in Bangalore – Jayamahal Palace Hotel, Alliance Française de Bangalore, Ranga Shankara, Chowdiah Memorial Hall, Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan and ADA Rangamandira, Attakkalari India Biennial will feature performers and delegates from countries across the globe that include Austria, Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Burkina Faso, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Iran, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, South Korea, UK, US and India.
The 10-day Biennial will present a celebration of dance on – CENTRE STAGE – providing the city of Bangalore, an opportunity to encounter, discuss and experience ground-breaking, critically-acclaimed dance works. Opening the festival on CENTRE STAGE, this year, is Roysten Abel’s The Manganiyar Seduction. Apart from performing all over the world, Abel’s The Manganiyar Seduction has been the opening act at festivals such as Vienna’s Impulsdanz, Lincoln Centre White Light Festival in New York, the Perth International Arts Festival, UK’s BITE Festival and the Singapore Arts Festival. Set against a backdrop inspired by the Hawa Mahal and Amsterdam’s red light district the piece makes the passionate and soulful music of the celebrated Manganiyars of Rajasthan a thrilling, operatic experience. Audiences will also be treated for the first time in India to Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s work, Glimpses. With Glimpses, Larbi presents a suite of duets, showing his trademark innovative and dramatic choreography including one from Babel (Words) that received the Lawrence Olivier Award in 2011 for Best New Dance Production. Larbi’s choreography will also be seen in the soon to be released Joe Wright’s film, ‘Anna Karenina’.
Also on offer is the visually mesmerising work of Chunky Move’s Glow, the spectacular moves and riveting physicality of Urban Ballet by Compagnie Revolution, Helene Weinzierl’s humorous take on travel and India, esnes.no.n2, the minimalistic distillations of Padmini Chettur’s Beautiful Thing 2, the lyrical personal journey with explosive moves in Champloo Dance Company’s White Caps and Felix Mathias Ott’s exploration of a universal myth in Odyssey Complex. Cindy van Acker’s two works - Lanx and Obtus - are explorations of architecture, space and stagecraft while the four fresh and exciting works by three South Korean dance companies - Bereishit Dance Company’s Balance and Imbalance, EDx2 Dance Company’s Modern Feeling and Help and Choe Contemporary Dance Company’s Argument bring the festival to a close
Attakkalari’s much sought after choreography residency – FACETS – where an international panel of 15 experts in choreography, theatre, digital arts and light and sound design have been training a group of 16 young choreographers picked through a selection process from over 180 applications from across the world began on December 5th, 2012 and will end on January 23rd, 2013. The works produced at FACETS by the choreographers -- along with local dancers -- will be premiered at the Biennial.
As the largest contemporary dance festival in South Asia, there is a dedicated platform for emerging artists from the South Asian region. EMERGING SOUTH ASIA: PLATFORM 13. At Platform 13, 10 emerging choreographers will present short excerpts of their work, their process and talk about their works-in-progress
A highlight of the festival is TIME FRAMES, an Arts-in-Education initiative conceptualised by Margie Medlin, a media artist from Australia. Medlin along with Attakkalari’s dancers worked with a 100 school children from Gear Foundation, Delhi Public School (Kanakpura), Parikrma Humanity Foundation (Koramangala), Bangalore School of Speech and Drama and Attakkalari’s Community Class to create a dramatic piece that explores different concepts of time through dance and visual media. TIME FRAMES will be presented at Guru Nanak Bhavan on January 28th, 2013.
Another frame that enhances the Biennial is – TRANSITIONS – a unique seminar curated by Sundar Sarukkai, professor and director, Manipal Centre for Philosophy and Humanities, Manipal University; media artist Margie Medlin and Jayachandran Palazhy, artistic director of Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts. At – TRANSITIONS – 14 internationally and critically acclaimed films on dance will form catalysts to conversations on tradition, form and identities in dance.
A mainstay of the Biennial’s initiatives is – WRITING ON DANCE – a workshop for young writers of art and culture facilitated by Germany’s Arnd Wesemann, editor, ‘tanz’. Master Classes include Light and Design workshops for technicians with the aim of building a strong stage-support infrastructure.
Sharing his thoughts on the biennial, Jayachandran Palazhy, Artistic Director, Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts, says, “The Biennial remains driven by the importance of presenting outstanding examples of contemporary dance productions from different parts of the globe and producing as many original works as possible, facilitating the exchange of ideas and skills, creating networks and engaging in meaningful discourses to further the cause of dance. It strives to encourage audiences to take a break from their habitual, hectic lives and spend some refined, quality time experiencing these unique works. The ten-day Biennial is an allocated time to reflect and reconnect to the journey that we as a collective society have taken to arrive at the now - our contemporary!”
The tickets for all shows at Ranga Shankara and ADA Rangamandira are priced at Rs 200; for all shows at Chowdiah Memorial Hall tickets are priced at Rs 300 and 100 and at Jayamahal Palace Hotel at Rs 300, Rs 500 and Rs 1000. There are also non-ticketed events at Alliance Française de Bangalore, Guru Nanak Bhavan and Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan.
Tickets are available at Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts. At Ranga Shankara for the shows staged there. For more information call: 080 2212 3684, 4148 3534, 4146 7690.
Online booking on www.bookmyshow.com
2013 The Attakalari India Biennial is supported by:
The Royal Norwegian Embassy, Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan, tanzhaus nrw, iDAS nrw, Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council, InKo Centre, Arts Council Korea, impulse, GREAT, British Council, Japan Foundation, Alliance Française de Bangalore, Bonjour India, Embassy of France in India, Institut Francais, Ozfest, DFAT, Australian Government, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Ministry of Culture, Government of India; swissnex, Consulate General of the Kingdom of The Netherlands, U.S. Consulate General, Chennai; Embassy of Israel, Prakriti Foundation, Inlaks India Foundation, Mr Mohandas Pai, Dr Ranjan Pai, Food for Thought Foundation and Lawquest
About Attakkalari:
Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts is India’s premier organization in the field of contemporary movement arts. Attakkalari’s Repertory company has evolved a unique movement language and is at the forefront of interdisciplinary works in India. The company tours widely in India and abroad.
Attakkalari’s underlying philosophy – ‘Traditional Physical Wisdom, Innovation and Technology’ drives its many activities which include Education and Outreach programmes, a Diploma in Movement Arts and Mixed Media, Research and Documentation, the Attakkalari India Biennial and the Repertory Company. Additionally stage and performance solutions are offered by TransMedia Technologies – the technical division of Attakkalari.
For more information, please visit www.attakkalari.org