25th June 2016, Saturday
KOOGU was a solo-performance by Anish Victor whilst the Dance Dramaturgy was provided by Michel Casanovas. It riveted audience throughout its duration of one hour and ten minutes. The narrative was non-linear and shifts between personal and general realms in an attempt to reveal that there may actually be no distinction between the two. The following is the synopsis of the performance:
“Koogu, the Kannada word for ‘call’ or ‘shout’ is a solo performance comprising of a series of vignettes based on real events, some that occurred in the performer’s life – a grandmother who considered dancing ‘cheap’, memories of a church choir, an attempt to run the marathon – all examined in the light of larger ideas of freedom, culture and tradition.”
The performance is a result of conversations between a Bangalore based theatre worker Anish Victor and Michel Casanovas, a dancer and choreographer from France. The dialogue revolved around the question – “What does one fight for?” Koogu has travelled to Delhi, Chennai, Pondicherry, Kolkata, Assam, Kerala and Kenya and has been performed over 80 shows in diverse venues. This was its 100th performance.
ANISH VICTOR started working as a stage-hand. In 1996, he co-founded Rafiki, a theatre group and over the years, has worked with practitioners like Harman de Souza, Probir Guha, Anmol Vellani and Natalie Hennedige, among others. He has a special interest in the field of education and continues to work with children to share the joys and challenges of theatre with them.
MICHEL CASANOVAS is a dancer, choreographer, teacher and practitioner in Feldenkrais Method (Awareness through Movement). He studied ballet and contemporary dance. Besides his artistic work and research, Michel’s interests are in teaching dance and in mind-body explorations in a functional and practical way.
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