Associate Director and Choreographer Sathya BG talks about his latest work “Chakra” for Prayog 4. Read on…

It started of with creating movement patterns with the senior dancers of Nritarutya and it was a bit of challenge for me as I had to imagine the movements on the dancers of Chakra.

The journey of the choreographer and the dancers, through till the dance sequence created is a very special one. As it’s an idea born in the mind of the choreographer and given form by the dancer nurtured by music, lights and costume.

Building on the concept, property ideas, creating rhythm patterns were all done with lots of brain storming and experimental sessions with the dancers as it was a learning process for each one of us. Workshops on rhythm, for the dancers have to create rhythmic patterns onstage.

To name a few sessions. Creating a rhythm pattern with breath was most thrilling for me. A few feedback from my dancers were “In your sessions even if we just sit and breath, we feel dizzy by the end of it”

It’s not the level of difficulty but the end product which matters.
Yes that is achieved with lots of training and dedication which the dancers have to be given full credit to.

It is very important for a choreographer to connect well with the dancers to pass on the imagination and let their bodies execute the idea into a physical movement with body expressions. For I believe in more of body expressions than the face in my choreographies.

So we as a team have lots of fun in and off rehearsals like having breakfast together, watching movies etc.
I wouldn’t speak for them but I got to understand them better, the way they think, to know how much I could push them, to get the best out of them.

Music:
It was fun creating music patterns (with few of my dancers) for Chakra in a public park(Cubbon park) with passers by as admirers ( that’s what I would like to think of as they had that look in their eyes of…….God! these guys have lost it and nothing can be done about it )

It was an extra task for me and one of my dancers as we had to learn to play the “Tamte” (percussion instrument), and create rhythmic patterns.

Most important part being to play it consistently and trying to be in rhythm. As when we were practicing in the public park, my fellow choreographer was passing by the park and she felt some losers are trying hard to prove a point and the light artist question “Hope you have another job…”

Well I guess we managed it more than ok, as we had some professional music composers and classical dance exponents giving it an ok.

(Photo Credits: Nikita Dutt Bajpai)