In a cultural milieu where the classical art forms are firmly entrenched, it is truly an uphill task for artistes moving away from the traditional framework and chartering a new path to find platforms to show their work. The Park’s New Festival, conceptualised and curated by Prakriti Foundation in association with Park Hotels, to provide a platform for emerging new work, has in its eleventh year, graduated to become a landmark event in the city’s cultural calendar. The third day of this year’s festival showcased contemporary dance performances by finalists of Prakriti Excellence in Contemporary Dance Awards, 2016, at Museum Theatre. Every movement is a projection stemming from the action of either destroying or creating was the edifice on which ‘Architect of self destruction’ was created. A group of dancers move in a herd-like manner . Slowly discordant notes emerge signifying upheaval, which is communicated through sudden jerk of the shoulders or arms. The action leads to confrontations, and then finally, is swept away by the forces of destruction. The work was about the cycle of creation and destruction. Rasa of fear Diya Naidu in her work ‘Hands and Face Project’ chose to address the issue of fear. The fear a woman experiences when she steps out of the house, harassment and humiliation that she encounters and boundaries that restrict her both physically and emotionally. Diya’s intense expressions and body language captured the rasa of fear with conviction. The work also used film footage of interactions with people from different strata of society and the confrontation that arises. On a similar vein, ‘Urban Chaos’ choreographed by Parth Bharadwaj captured the pandemonium that grips each one of us in the urban milieu, with images of insensitivity — trampling over sleeping bodies, the constant obsession with the self and use of selfie sticks and anonymity of individuals shown by helmeted heads. The intensity of movements choreographed to highlight the interplay of emotions and experiences that one undergoes in a metro, was portrayed with conviction by the four dancers. ‘F 4’, choreographed and performed by Virieno Christina Zakiesato, captured the instinctive reaction of a person to stress. The dance depicted how the body in such situations takes flight to reach an emotional peak and then descends to find calm. The winners of the PECDA 2016 award — Surjit Nongmeikapam’s group Nachom Arts Foundation presented — ‘Folktale’, a non-social, non-political narrative. It is the tale of a group of performers and its responses to the fruit, Lime. The whole premise was built, not on storytelling structure, but on the feelings and reactions of the dancers to the fruit. The powerful musical score and the trained body of the dancers drew the audience into their fold. The grace and harmony of movements and the leisurly pace of dancing, using the space effectively, made it an aesthetic experience. A few thoughts and questions arose watching these performances. Chaos, confrontation, fear, destruction...many shades of negativity, is that all there is in the urban milieu? Why aren’t the other rasas explored? A small audience has been nurtured by this festival to respond to these creative explorations, but these works need to reach out to a wider audience, to find its own niche.

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