-SCAPE explores vignettes from the lives of two individuals who have never met before, except through technology. Chronicling their urge to share their personal memories and experiences of people, objects, places and events through technology while transcending the constraints of geography and language, shines a light on the social fabric of their lives. Journals of loss, shifting perspectives, changing values and snippets of conversations bring out their fears and joys, coalescing segments of time.
This production features Hemabharathy Palani from India and Ryu Suzuki from Japan, and is being co-produced by Japan Foundation (New Delhi) and Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts (Bangalore).
The Artists:
Hemabharathy Palani
An award-winning choreographer and dancer, Hemabharathy Palani is one of the most promising talents in contemporary dance today. Known for her fluidity and musicality, Hema’s focus on stage is hypnotic, drawing her audience into the story she weaves with her gracefully articulated movements. Her movements are richly textured with elements from her further training in ballet, contemporary dance, Kalaripayattu, yoga as well as Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi. Hema has travelled to some of the biggest contemporary dance venues including the Barbican Centre (London), Mercat de les Flors (Barcelona) and Critical Path (Sydney). She has also completed residencies under mentors like Jonathan Burrows, during her Sadler's Wells Summer University programme in 2011. Currently, Hema is the Rehearsal Director at the Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts, Bengaluru, where she also works as a choreographer, teacher, and performing artist.
Ryu Suzuki
Born in Yokohama and raised in Tokyo, Ryu is currently a freelance performing artist, award-winning choreographer and associate choreographer for Dance Base Yokohama. Since he was first chosen to appear in Itzik Galili’s “A Linha Curva in Rambert Dance Company’s UK tour, he has then been a part of the London Olympics 2012 Opening, the Phoenix Dance Theatre artistically directed by Sharon Watson as well as productions by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Philippe
Decouflé, Tero Saarinen, Inbal Pinto/Avshalom Pollak, Ella Rothchild, Tristan Sharps, Motoko Hirayama, Ryohei Kondo, Kenta Kojiri, and many others. As a choreographer, he has created many works including “Agnus” (2013) and “BU”, which won a prize for Best Young Choreographer from the French Embassy, MAZDANSA Prize and the FITS Award from Sibiu International Performing Arts Festival.
Nao Yoshigai
Born in 1987 in Japan, Nao Yoshigai is a filmmaker, dancer and choreographer. Her deep passion and skill in both fields allow her to bring her expertise into choreographing image, sound and movement for motion pictures, depending on her strong physical sense and perspective on all living things. Her film, the ‘Grand Bouquet’ was selected to the Directors’ Fortnight in 2019.
Tatsuki Amano
Born in 1996 in Japan, Tatsuki graduated from Kunitachi College of Music and went on to create multiple award-winning works. He studied composition under Kazunori Maruyama and also creates music for animated cartoons. His original music for films such as “Locomotor” and “The Balloon Catcher” directed by Isaku Kaneko were both screened and nominated at national and international film festivals. “The Balloon Catcher”, another film he worked on, was also nominated at the 2020 Annecy International Animation Film Festival.
MD Pallavi
A multi-talented artist who has made remarkable contributions to the music field in India as a singer, actor and composer. She has won the State award for best playback singer, the Kempegowda award for her contribution to music and META best actress award for her performance in the one woman play ‘C sharp C blunt’ This solo-theatre play, an Indo-German theatre production directed by Sophia Stepf, also had a very successful national and international tour spanning many countries. She is a a singer and actor of immense talent Pallavi. Her live concerts are widely popular and her voice is revered by audiences.
Shymon Chelad
With a Masters degree in Performing Arts, Shymon has been at the forefront of light and set design for Attakkalari for over 12 years. His work on ‘For Pina..’, that was produced in collaboration with Goethe Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan, toured 7 cities in India. He also designed the light set up for several other productions as a part of Attakkalari’s emerging platform for young choreographers, as well as Attakkalari’s mixed-bill performances for corporate shows.
Aloka Dsouza
Her creative approach to fabric brings to life versatile and minimalist costumes that are influenced by Indian, western and contemporary styles. AS a fashion designer, she specializes in customizing garments for all genders and age groups. She uses a range of surface embellishment techniques and has also learnt a unique Japanese origami technique that is used as a decorative detail with fabric that are utilized in her design work. She enjoys working with traditional Indian fabrics, turning them to globally inclusive fashion.
Takao Norikoshi
The director of Japan Dance Plug Co. Ltd, elected Media Fellow of the Japan Society (New York) and the Director of the Giappone Danza Festival. Takao Norikoshi is a dance critic and creative who is at the head of multiple festivals like Dance New Airt, Fukuoka Dance Fringe Festival, Odoru Akita and many more. He has also written a book titled ‘Perfect Guide Book of Contemporary Dance’ written in Japanese/Korean.
Jayachandran Palazhy
An internationally sought-after choreographer, changemaker and visionary in the field of arts and arts education, Jaychandran Palazhy is deeply committed to extending the reach of contemporary movement arts in India. Having trained in Indian traditional forms while growing up, Jayachandran later studied contemporary dance at the London Contemporary Dance School. His training includes Kathakali, Bharatanatyam, Kalaripayattu as well as Ballet, Tai Chi, Capoeira and African Dances. As the Artistic Director of Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts, he has created many critically acclaimed productions with innovative use of interactive technology that has toured widely across India and internationally. His research initiatives under ‘Nagarika’ and as the Director of ‘Attakkalari India Biennale’ – South Asia’s largest contemporary dance festival, have had a hugely positive impact on the contemporary dance scene in our country.
About Japan Foundation:
The Japan Foundation is Japan’s only institution dedicated to carrying out comprehensive international cultural exchange programs throughout the world. With the objective of deepening mutual understanding between the people of Japan and other countries / regions, our various activities and information services create opportunities for interpersonal interactions. The Japan Foundation develops programs in three different fields—arts and cultural exchange, Japanese Language education overseas, and Japanese studies and intellectual exchange.
The Japan Foundation has a global network consisting of the Tokyo headquarters, the Kyoto Office, two Japanese-language institutes, and 25 overseas offices in 24 countries (including two Asia Center liaison offices).
The Japan Foundation New Delhi was officially established in January 1994 and since then has been carrying out the Foundation’s programs thoroughly.
For Further information, please visit: https://www.jpf.go.jp/e/index.html or https://www.jfindia.org.in/