Hanchike
We have also presented a number of new works as part of the bi-annual sharing of The Nirali Collective called Hanchike.
Hanchike 2020
Our first edition was a humble affair, in our home, where each of us presented our story and idea through the form of Bharathanatyam that we have trained in.Along with traditional compositions like Thillana and Kruthi, we presented the story of Shabari and explored what was her life’s purpose after she met her Rama? We presented in Bharathanatyam the poem – The Night of the scorpion by Nizim Ezikel. We questioned the actions of God in the narrative of the devernama - Yamannali Kannenindu; We rewrote the javali -marulaghihena with our own ideas of love and romance; We rewrote the story of Draupadi with what we imagined for her through the format of the margam using voice, spoken word, mridangam, abhinaya and nritta.
Hanchike 2021
In our second edition, we invited our close friends and family to support us in our vulnerable work. Each of us presented solo or duet performances. We presented a Harry Potter vernam, a javali exploring gender fluidity, a kruthi on Shiva exploring rest, a padam telling the story a difficult personal situation at home, a reimagination of the four women in our Hindu mythology stories from a contemporary lens and their personal interactions with Rama, another padam explored with multiple endings. Alongside this, we also invited the audiences to join us and prompt us for the many improvisations and contextualising exercises that we performed.
Hanchike 2022
In our third edition, we invited audiences in large numbers to the Bangalore Internation Center and presented to them an array of thoughtfully curated and intentionally choreographed pieces. What better way than the body is there to introduce ourselves and stand as who we truly are? What is gaze and connectedness with an audience and how does one play with that? What are the similarities between the Goddess and the Bharathanatyam dancer and Indian woman? Why is the parrot crying? How do we rest in Bharathanatyam and in patriarchy? What is ‘play’ in a classical form? Can our bodies in performance lead us to realize some truths about our own life? How do new movement vocabularies move through the body? What is the experience of complexly coordinated, perfectly matched bodies in space? How do tell the story of God to children or should we retell it? What will Instagram feel like outside our phones and on stage? What kind of citizen is an artist?
