Footprints

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INDIA/DENMARK DANCE PERFORMANCE TOGETHER “FOOTPRINTS” – TOUR IN INDIA
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
JANUARY 2013
SOURCE: VNR.TV – ANDERS GARDE KONGHAUG +45 23103058
COPYRIGHT: FREE

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STORY

The dance performance Footprints, inspired by the life of Siddhartha (Buddha), is starting a tour in India in 2013. “Footprints” is a very well reviewed and rare intercultural encounter between traditional international Indian dance and contemporary modern dance from the West.

The diplomatic relations between Denmark and India have been difficult for the last year, but within the culture – the communication seems to be harmonic. The creation was made possible during the biggest official Indian festival ever of its kind in Denmark – India Today, Copenhagen Tomorrow – involving dancers from all of Scandinavia and India. A unique encounter.

Among the dancers from India are the senior traditional solo-dancer Miss Hemabharathy Palani from Bengaluru’s company Attakkalari. After 13 years of training in traditional Indian dance Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi, she is now fulfilling and “flirting” (ref. the video pictures) with contemporary dance from the West.

“Footprint” is inspired by the story of Buddha’s journey towards enlightenment. A journey with Siddhartha (Buddha) through life’s many hardships, faith, grief and pain, pleasure and especially love. An attempt to find balance and harmony in life

Our walk of life tells a story about who we are and what makes us recognizable. When we share footprints, we gain new awareness of ourselves with each other and follow new paths.

Footprint have been choreographed by the Danish choreographer Birgitte Bauer-Nilsen. She hopes a new dance form is being created in the meeting between India and the West. B.B.Nilsen is an Associate Professor in Dance and has made dance performances and choreography work in both Europe – and outside – creating new contemporary dance for 20 years.
The reviews have been great. The expert magazine DANCE finds the result “smooth, harmonic and top delicious”.
The national morning newspaper Berlingske wrote is was “a unique dance performance”.

The second important morning paper in Denmark, Politiken, wrote that it was an “innovative interaction between contemporary and classical Indian dance, martial arts, ballet and release techniques.”

And about the music they wrote that it was “a unique meeting between traditional Indian and contemporary acustic jazz, electronia”.

 

The music is composed by international Danish pianist and composer Niels Lan Doky, knighted by the Queen of Denmark – and an array of some of India’s most prominent musicians, such as Purbayan Chatterjee, Prabhu Edouard and Hamza Rahimtulla. The result is an emotional meeting in music.

Niels Lan Doky played jazz when he was 15 with Thad Jones and Ernie Wilkins – and was recently knighted by the Queen of Denmark. N.L. Doky is fascinated by the deep and historic indian musical traditions that do not use music notes. The Indian music, he says, is mush more difficult  than the much younger European music traditions.

One of the Indian musicians, Prabhu Edouard, is now living in Paris. Prabhu Edouard is recognized as one of the most versatile tabla players of his generation. He is a worthy disciple of renowned tabla maestro Pandit Shankar Ghosh.

Among the other indian music composer is Hamza Rahimtula who is one of the most respected and cutting edge electronica musicians in India.
The dance is a blend of Indian classical and contemporary dance, but also martial arts and yoga, ballet and release techniques.

The movements in the dance, which express the life of Buddha, are created as movements through the chakras – as the Danish choreographer Birgitte Bauer-Nilsen explains.

Budha is danced by Swedish Thomas Johansen from the Danish based Yggdrasil Dance Ensemble. The indian dancers are organized by Attakkalari in Bengalur, but are selected from all of India.

Footprints will be performing in 2013 in Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata. Later will it perform in Europe in various cities – among others in Paris.

End

 

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SHOTLIST

1. STAGE WITH TRADITIONAL AND CONTEMPORARY DANCERS AND BAND PERFORMING. INDIAN/MODERN MUSIC.
2. STAGE. NORWEGIAN SOLO DANCER THOMAS JOHANSEN SITS IN A YOGA POSITION. MISS HEMABHARATHY PALANI ENTERS FLIRTING IN A SOLO-DANCE.
3. INTERVIEW MISS HEMABHARATHY PALANI, SENIOR-SOLO DANCER ATTAKKALARI CENTRE FOR MOVEMENT ARTS, BANGALORE, INDIA:
”I understand my classical dance form better. Because, when I learned Bharatanatyam (ref. extra info) I just like to learn Bharatanatyam, but when I learned contemporary dance, I learned, what dance is – that’s a global, much more MODERN expanded”.
4. STAGE: AUDÍENCE APPLAUDING. MUSICIAN/COMPOSER NIELS LAN DOKY WITH BAND. SLOW MODERN JAZZ TOGETHER WITH INDIAN SONG.
5. VARIOUS DANCER MISS HEMABHARATHY PALANI IN SILHUETTE WITH YELLOW BACKGROUND PERFORMING TRADITIONAL AND MODERN TOGETHER.
6. SOLO DANCER MINNA BERGLUND, SWEDEN IN EXPRESSIVE CONTEMPORARY DANCE IN SILHUETTE WITH BLACK BACKGROUND.
7. CHOREOGRAPHER BIRGITTE BAUER-NILSEN SITTING IN REHEARSEL ROOM AT MIRROR.
8. INTERVIEW BIRGITTE BAUER-NILSEN, CHOREOGRAPHER:
”What I saw came out of this, that there was a merge, a fusion around the Indian culture with the spirituality, body and mind. And the western culture in some silence, in some new footprints, in some new way to go. That was what I felt”.
10. NEWSPAPER REVIEW 1: “It was smooth, harmonic and top delicious” by DANS (DANCE) / ON-LINE
11. NEWSPAPER REVIEW 2: “A unique dance performance” by AOK, BERLINGSKE TIDENDE.
12. NEWSPAPER REVIEW 3: “An innovative interaction between contemporary and classical dance, martial arts, ballet and release technique” by I BYEN, POLITIKEN.
13. “A unique meeting between traditional Indian and contemporary acustic jazz, electronica” by I BYEN, POLITIKEN.

NB. NEWSPAPER CLIPS WITHOUT THE QUOTES IN THE PICTURE CAN BE FOUND IN THE END OF THE EDIT AS EXTRA STOCK-SHOT.

14. PIANIST AND COMPOSER NIELS LAN DOKY PLAYING PIANO. EASY JAZZ.
15. INTERVIEW NIELS LAN DOKY. PIANIST AND COMPOSER.
“Their senses are more tuned in, perhaps on a more permanent basis to everything that goes on within the music. And it’s a very inspiring way to approach music and it’s very fascinating for us European musicians”.
16. INDIAN TABLA DRUMMER PRABHU EDOUARD PLAYING UPTEMPO JAZZ DRUMS.
17. ALL DANCERS PERFORMING TO HIS TABLA MUSIC.
18. 2 DANCERS ON STAGE (MISS KEYA ANN D’SOUZA, INDIA AND THOMAS JOHANSEN, SWEDEN). DANCE LIKE TRAVELLING. NEW UP-BEAT MUSIC.
19. ALL DANCERS IN FINAL DANCE.

20.¨EXTRA FOOTAGE:
– MUSIC CONTINUES (NICE AND GOOD FOR EDITING)
– NEWSPAPERS FROM REVIEWS

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RELEVANT INFO AND LINKS:

Traditional Indian dance form Bharatanatyam: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharata_Natyam

 

Traditional Indian dance form Kuchipudi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuchipudi

 

Birgitte Bauer-Nilsen

Choreographer, Associate Professor in Dance, has made dance performances and choreography work in both Europe and in Third World countries, including teaching as an Associate Professor in Dance and working as a visiting lecturer.

Since 1995, Birgitte has been the Artistic leader of Yggdrasil Dance Ensemble whose major projects include such intercultural dance performances as The Footprint and The Butterfly.

 

Minna Berglund

Born1986 i Sweden. School of Modern Dance, Stockholm. Dancer in Danish Dance Theatre 2009-2012. Worked with choreographers Tim Rushton, Tina Tarpgaard, Adi Salant, André Mesquita, Kim Brandstrup and Wang Yuanyuan. Toured in Russia, Middle East, USA og Europe.

 

Keya Ann D’souza was born in Mumbai, India in 1984. Keya started dancing professionally at the age of 13 and has worked and performed extensively with Delhi Music Theater and The Danceworx in New Delhi and Mumbai.

 

Thomas Johansen

Thomas is educated at the Ballet Academy in Gothenburg, Sweden. During his career Thomas has worked with several choreographers around the world in projects and festivals. Besides his dancing career Thomas is a leader for personal/spiritual development.

 

Musician Prabhue Douard  http://www.prabhuedouard.com/

 

Hemabharathy Palani, Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts, Bangalore, India

Born in 1981 in Bangalore

Hemabharathy has a unique movement style, naturally evolved by blending the distilled vocabularies of classical Indian dance forms such as Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi (in which she has trained for 13 years and performed extensively) with the freedom of Contemporary dance. She has also undergone training in Kalarippayattu and Yoga as well as Contact Improvisation and Classical Ballet giving her movement a strong, sensitive and precise quality. She is currently a senior dancer with the Attakkalari Repertory Company.

 

Indian: Attakkalari – Centre for Movement Arts: http://www.attakkalari.org

Danish/Scandinavian: www.Yggdrasildance.dk/english.htm

 

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