Political Mother Unplugged: Live stream by Théâtre de la Ville – Paris
Political Mother Unplugged – Hofesh Shechter – Live YouTube
“Political Mother” is ten years old. Let’s discover it again in a new, unplugged version imagined for the young dancers of Shechter II.
Broadcasted live on Théâtre de la Ville YouTube and website, from Théâtre de la Ville – Les Abbesses (without audience) // Duration 1h
Watch “Political Mother Unplugged” live by clicking on the following link at the scheduled time https://bit.ly/Political_M_web
Hofesh Shechter scrutinises again this stunning show with the talented international young dancers of Shechter II. In a landscape of animated digital projections, the choreography unfolds in a world of raw emotions and powerful sensations triggered by the compelling and tribal movement of the group. A unique dance experience that leaves no one indifferent.
Live Streamings are free of charge, and accessible on the TDV website, at the time of the performance only.
Saturday, December 26 at 4PM (Paris) 8:30PM (India)
Tuesday, December 29 at 9PM (Paris) Wednesday December 30 at 1:30 AM (India)]
Saturday January 2 at 11AM (Paris) 3:30PM (India)
Sunday January 3 at 10PM (Paris)
Do join us for this amazing performance and invite your friends too!
Supported by British Council France, Dance Bridges Festival, One Dance Week, Context Festival and Saitama Arts Theatre.
Indo-French Malraux Seminar 2019-2020
Dance Bridges represented by Festival Director, Vanessa Maria Mirza was pleased to be a part of the Malraux Seminar organized by the French Institute in India. An excerpt from a report by Institut Francais (New Delhi, India) of the meetings in September 2019 and May 2020. Download the full report here. India expresses an ongoing interest for urban issues, public spaces and artistic involvement in these areas, offering France an interesting opportunity of cooperation and exchange. France has a real expertise in designing artistic projects in public spaces, as demonstrated through festivals and other initiatives mainly led by public authorities. While cultural operators in India also develop creative and innovative projects across the territory, they still face many difficulties and constraints related to the complex and multidimensional nature of public spaces. To this end, the Malraux Seminar aimed to be a platform for encounters and dialogue, bringing together Indian and French stakeholders from practitioners, architects, urbanists, academics and cultural project managers to Government officials. The two-day symposium inquired into public art interventions, its challenges, and actions necessary to guide urban art projects forward. As smart city initiatives progressively consider art in its policy making, the conference created an open conversation to collectively discuss resources and best practices. The proceedings broke the intricacies of sustainable Public Art projects into 3 main themes with 5 roundtables. Public art is influential in creating a more vibrant and participatory urban space. The case studies presented opened an exchange on making art that is more inclusive, and forging partnerships to enable financial or in-kind support. Such artistic manifestations reanimate interest in a city and augment global interest and tourism. As public art projects bring back forgotten legacies and lesser known districts on the cultural map,there is a need for greater education and exposure for all the stakeholders who conduct such interventions, from the grassroot level to the state authorities. Due to the Covid-19 crisis, several of the Seminar’s conclusions have been challenged and many questions and issues raised on the future of art and culture in a post-pandemic public space. Taking off from the 5 original ones, a virtual round table was organised in May 2020 that brought together all the participants to share their experiences, thoughts and concerns on both the current situation and the future of public art projects in a post-covid world. This final exchange raised several points on urban public art, and a lot of food for thought in anticipation of the future.
Contemporary ART+ Performance, a talk with Anirudh Chari
Dance Bridges had the pleasure to co-present with the British Council Kolkata an interactive session on Contemporary ART + Performance focussed on contemporary artists in the UK led by Kolkata based curator and cultural theorist Anirudh Chari. The talk was followed by a session of improvisation looking at art as a point of departure for inspiration in choreography and performance. It was an enjoyable evening and we are grateful to all those who joined us for this event.
Read about this wonderful evening with The Telegraph t2. Read the full article online here.
” ‘Chari gave us great insights into the effect and impact dance had had on some modern/contemporary artists working in different mediums of painting, print, sculpture, photography, among others. I was able to lead dancers in the audience in an improvisation after, looking at the reverse connection, exploring how art can influence dance and choreography in different ways,’ said Vanessa Mirza, director, Dance Bridges Festival. “
CINARS Biennale 2018
‘Since 1984, every two years in Montreal, CINARS has been organizing one of the most important international showcases and networking events, gathering more than 1 900 professionals hailing from over 54 countries including 433 show presenters, some of whom are the most influential in the business. During one week, 170 shows from Quebec, elsewhere in Canada, and abroad grace the stages while workshops, networking events, as well as an exhibition hall are teeming with participants in some of Montreal’s main cultural venues.
After 18 editions, the CINARS Biennale has made a name for itself as a must-see multidisciplinary event in which participants can develop real international touring opportunities, build solid relationships with stakeholders from all over the world, and sharpen their professional skill set and knowledge base.’
– CINARS Biennale (www.cinars.org/en/biennale)
Dance Bridges was at the 18th edition of CINARS Biennale 2018 in Montreal, Canada for an amazing week of performances, presentations and discussions. Festival Director Vanessa Maria Mirza was also invited to speak in the The Great Knowledge Cafe session with the theme ‘The Art of Building bridges around the world’. This was a wonderful activity hosted by CINARS & CAPACOA as a unique and dynamic platform of learning, transforming and networking. It was an excellent time of exchange led by Dance Bridges( Kolkata) & Open Look (St.Petersburg). ‘CINARS was a great experience’,says Vanessa, ‘and I look forward to more international and particularly Canadian partnerships and collaborations being built through this event.’
Encountering French Artists & the dance & art of Paris & Lyon
An article by Vanessa Maria Mirza, Founder-Director, Dance Bridges Festival, attending the Biennale de la Danse in Lyon and other performances and artist meetings in Paris.
‘It was indeed a great delight for me to be invited as an international delegate for the 18th edition of the Biennale de la danse, Lyon supported by Institut Francais, ONDA and Maison de la Danse. I share here some of the highlights of my visit for a two-week period in Paris and Lyon. It has been a very enriching experience that has not only inspired me personally but also proved very useful in making connections to build future collaborations with Dance Bridges (Kolkata).
The Focus Danse and Biennale de la Danse was one of the best dance platforms/festivals I have seen so far. I appreciated that the performances were curated across a wide range of spaces and theatres and I got to see many different performance venues. It was the first time for me to see many well-known French choreographers like Jerome Bel and Maguy Marin but also I was glad to see work from many young emerging and mid-career artists. Both in Lyon and later in Paris, I was impressed by the broad concept of dance that was reflected in the performances I saw, the use of digital technology, staging and visual elements and also the amazing skills and abilities of the performers.
It was inspiring and intriguing at the same time. Rachid Ouramdance’s work ‘Franchir La nuit’ performed at the Lyon Opera House was really beautiful, especially with the way he choreographed the piece using young dancers. Yoann Bourgeouis’ ‘Histories Naturalles 24 Tentatives, D’Approaches D’Un Point de Suspension’ performed at Musee Guimet, was also stunning in the techniques used and ideas explored, woven within a
tightly knit choreography.
In Paris, I enjoyed very much watching Israel Galvan’s brilliant ‘Gatomaquia’ (a flamenco solo performed in a circus tent and incorporating the Romanian gypsies from the circus into this version of the performance), Circe Plume ‘La Derniere Saison’ (a contemporary French circus in their last season performing with strong dramatic content, live music and exceptionally beautiful sets and lighting) and Maguy Marin’s ‘Cinderella’ performed by the Lyon Opera-Ballet Company (eloquent and fascinating in her interpretation of the story and particularly with the use of masques). I was also able to watch a number of interesting works at the Les Plateaux Festival at Theatre Jean Vilar and at La Briqueterie by mostly emerging artists.
At the Dansathon which I was able to attend on the last day of the Biennale in Lyon, I saw some very exciting presentations. The participants engaged with dance and technology in new ways using augumented and virtual reality to bring dance closer to the wider public. The prize winning project was ‘An Internet Connected Dance Space’ where through a mobile app, dancers at different points of the globe could dance at the same time and share in an experience with the help of digital media. We also saw videos of the simultaneous process that has taken place in London and Liege.While I don’t list all the names and artists here, I was able to watch about 26 different pieces through my visit, and it was absolutely fantastic for me both as an artist and programmer.
Through the weeks that followed both at the Biennale in Lyon and in Paris I was able to talk with many very interesting French and international choreographers and producers. It was lovely to see some artists who have been a part of Dance Bridges and some that we met at Aerowaves.
At the ONDA meetings I had the wonderful opportunity to be introduced to a number of artistic programmers from France and other countries that I was meeting for the very first time. The session I attended in Miribel on ‘Dance in Public Spaces’ was a very useful discussion to learn more about how other festivals and programmers have been working with artists in this area of performance in their own regions, while also getting know about many projects/artists who have interesting creations/research in this area. Later in Paris, I also had the pleasure of visiting the ONDA Office to meet with Regis Plaud to understand more about ONDA’s work with performing arts and also exchange information about Dance Bridges and my own projects in India.
It was a special privilege for me to have visit and tour a few venues for dance creation and performance including Theatre de la Ville, Parc de la Villete, La Briqueterie and Centre National de Danse in Paris. It was exhilarating for me to learn more about how things operate at each of these spaces, but also understand more about the design, concept and planning that went into each of them. I had many interesting conversations on how they engage with
artists and the community.
A favourite part of my time in France as a visual artist and curator was being able to visit many art museums, galleries and exhibitions. I have a strong interest in the Impressionists and so was very glad to see many beautiful Impressionist paintings at the Musée de l’Orangerie and Musee Montmarttan Monet. I also enjoyed the contemporary art collections at Centre Georges Pompidou which is such a fascinating space and I loved the gorgeous views of Paris at sunset. I was able to visit Musee Jacquemarte-Andre with a new exhibition on the Italian painter Caravaggio that was really exquisite and the first of its kind in Paris. I also had special visit to Cite de la musique with a tour by Philippe Bruguière at the Musée de la musique, showing us the rare and beautiful collection of musical instruments. In Lyon I was able to visit of Museum of Art and was so enthralled by their fabulous collection of artwork and art objects.
This trip wouldn’t have been possible without certain individuals taking an interest in the work I do and I would like to thank those who conceived and orchestrated this visit on very short notice. My deep gratitude to Claire Verlet, Alice Brunot & the Institut Francais team, Regis Plaud, Karthika Nair and Thomas Belus among many others for their kind and wonderful support in making this such a rich experience for me. I am truly changed by my time in France, and I know it will have a deep impact on my person and my artistic practice. Merci beaucoup!
Merging music and movement, on the spot with Kyle Scott
We had an inspiring evening with artist Kyle Scott, performing songs from recent albums and EP’s, sharing key moments that inspired his music and artistic journey and talking about his creative process in songwriting and music. Read an excerpt from Kyle’s interview with The Telegraph t2 by Yasmin Turner. Read the full article online here.
“An intimate dance studio at The Doodle Room in Garcia was the location of an exciting collaboration of dance and music between Dance Bridges Festival and American singer songwriter Kyle Scott on September 8. […]
When did you start writing and perfoming music ? Has this been something you’ve only done in Calcutta?
I started singing in my early 20s, playing in small venues around the stat of Indiana, where I’m from, but I’ve travelled back and forth, between the US and India for work on and off for about a decade. Since then, I’ve been plugging in to the music scene here in Calcutta. You kind of have to dig for it, but it’s here.
What influences your music – experiences or artistes?
Moving here has been a big piece of it and has introduced me to an entirely different culture, a beautiful culture. It’s sometimes overwhelming with the noise and the chaos of the city. I come from a farming community in Indiana, so it’s night and day as far as differences go! I love (singer-songwriter) Damien Rice and he’s been a big influence on my music. I like how his music kind of quiets and then takes off, then quiets down again. There’s a lot of emotion in the way that he composes.
So what does the future hold for you? More music?
I’m finishing my work here, with Sari Bari (a non-profit), and I’m heading back to the US at the end of the year but I’m recording a single soon. I’m usually kind if a loner when it comets music but I’m branching out with a band. I’m hoping after what we’re doing in the studio, this will be a kind of springboard to continue doing music in the States. I also want to take an Indian harmonium home, it’s such a cool instrument!”
You can watch a video snippet from the event here.