Blog 09.13.2018

Ishti presents Prakriti: A History of the Present: Dance, Music and Visual Art

09.13.2018

After the 2016 election, we witnessed just how divided the country had become. People could no longer communicate with each other without letting their emotions take over to the point that friends and family members would no longer talk to each other. Co-director, Kinnari Vora’s good friend and his twin sister stopped talking to each other and that was the moment of realization for us - to create a production tackling why today’s society is so divisive.

We began the research process by trying to understand how our ancestors might have reacted to anything “different” or unknown. We read the book Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari which provided us with several theories that we were able to build upon. We also interviewed friends, family, strangers; their answers were then turned into choreography. We decided to focus on the fear and how we react to fear - fright, flight or fight. And thus, Prakriti: A History of the Present was born.

The all-immersive and interactive multidisciplinary production is a collaborative of dance by Ishti, original score and live music by composer Bob Garrett (percussion book for the worldpremiere of Sting's The Last Ship), visual art by filmmaker Shawn Convey (Among Wolves) and light design by Geoffrey Bushor.

The dance choreography is rooted in Bharatanatyam - South Indian classical dance, Indian tribal and folk dance, the South Indian martial art form of Kalaripayattu, and Western modern/contemporary dance forms. Choreographers Kinnari Vora and Preeti Veerlapati use movements inspired bydaily life routines, nature, primal movements and experiment with fabrics and sound effects.  All ten dancers with different backgrounds add to the wide range of movements and emotions.

The indoor/outdoor performance will take place at the Field House of the Indian Boundary Park, a Chicago landmark, on Friday, September 28th at 7:30 pm and on Saturday, September 29th, at 3:30 pm and 7:30 pm.