EDINBURGH 2017: BWW Q&A- Majuli

Tell us a bit about your show.

The river Brahmaputra, landscape of Majuli and the social, cultural and spiritual life of the people in Majuli form the basis for this contemporary solo work. The island of Majuli, in the midst of the mighty Brahmaputra in Assam, India, has fascinated me from my early childhood days, through frequent boat rides that I shared with my father, who used to travel to the island for work.

This is the world's biggest river island and gets flooded every year during the summer; people are uprooted and quaintly re-settle themselves as the season changes. Constant floods and soil erosion on the banks are the major threats to the existence of Majuli. Majuli and its unique relationship with the people living on the island, has kindled my imagination to explore the seemingly normal human tendency to shift or settle in safer abodes. The Brahmaputra river embraces Majuli in its midst, and so does Majuli with its people, like a mother to a child, a source of life. People adapt, flow along with the changes in the island, a sign of their resilient relationship with the island and the river. Majuli settles and shifts, and settles again, presenting a unique snapshot of life and physical being.

Structurally my performance starts at any point, like on an island, to ultimately open up to a huge dimension in space. I travel as the river water, with different qualities and evoke many journeys within the space of my visits to Majuli. The rhythms, flirtation of the folk, the catastrophe of one's house getting washed away, the pleasures of rain, the spiritualism of the Satras, the structures, along with the imagery of a boat create 'Majuli'.

Why bring it to the Fringe?

We are very happy to bring it to the Fringe, to have this opportunity to share our story here in the UK.

The sync of traditional knowledge systems and practices with modernity has been the challenge that has engulfed the entire world in many ways, and this piece is an attempt towards sharing stories of adaptability, striking a balance between traditional and modern knowledge. These experiences and stories resonate well beyond Majuli and the mighty Brahmaputra of India.

What sets it apart from other dance shows at the festival?

As a dancer, having never trained in western ballet or other Western Contemporary forms, I have an advantage to be formless and yet create my organic designs of movements. My process is about generating the content from within, without being restricted by any pre-conceived notion of the shape of the body. In this dance I embody the many emotions that I have experienced in my trips to Majuli, and portray my intimate relationship with the island through the medium of my body. As I become man, woman, monk, river, land, lotus, demon, god during this performance, I attempt to portray the shifting terrain of imageries that have inspired me. Within the piece of 'Majuli', there are places where I have used traditional form and folk but that is the sync that is my form, a sync of Modernity and Traditional, a sync of Theatre and Dance, a symbiotic synthesis.

This project is much more than an artistic ambition... This project is part of a research-oriented process to bring together artists, of creating a body of knowledge of the hopes, aspirations, culture, identity of the people inhabiting the bank of the river Brahmaputra.

Who would you recommend comes to see your show?

Artists, Environmentalists, scientists, sociologists, researchers, festival organisers, people who love nature, people who wish to experience a sharing of a riverine culture, the meaning of the meandering flows of a river and its bio-diversity. This project "Majuli" is part of a larger project called Katha Yatra (stories journeys), which is part-documentation and part re-imagination of the cultural, identity and environment landscape of the river through various mediums of Art.

I also wish to generate cultural dialogue with other parts of the world. I want to share this unique story of "Majuli" and Brahmaputra with other cultures across the world. The Brahmaputra is now undergoing rapid changes through the plans of massive hydroelectric and related infrastructure projects. This can create, is creating a lot of conflict along the flows of the river and the people that live on it. The cycle of the often quiet, often raging river has innumerable stories of resilience of people-river interactions, which needs to inform the winds of change; for the changes to be sustainable to the spirit of the people and the river.

Are there any other performances you're hoping to catch at the festival?

Definitely. I am planning to even stay back post my shows and catch other performances. I still have to figure out all the shows and line-up.

Timings and ticket information for Majuli are available on the edfringe website.

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