With a background in the classical Indian form Bharatanatyam, Padmini’s research since the early 90’s has been leading her to find an authentic vocabulary, an authentic set of movement ideas that carry the traces of her physical history, but at the same time are open to new developments in the way that we understand the body.
“In a critique of the rigidity of classical Indian dance conventions, the new iteration explores the suffering and strength of the heroine who is abandoned by her lover. Using slow, deliberate movements, the performers mimic the sense of distance and longing while departing from the narrative of chaste victimhood.” – News Express
To collect material, for almost a whole year (the first year of work on this piece), I divided the body into three zones. I asked the dancers to come up with sets of movements for the torso (head included), arms, and feet. It felt like a children’s game—mixing and matching different body-parts to assemble an odd character…