Resist/Co-exist Live Dance Performance
By Willow Cheng
Exhibition Opening Night
Saturday, March 17, 2018, 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Narwhal Contemporary Gallery, 2104 Dundas Street West, Toronto, ON M6R 1W9
Resist/Co-exist Live Dance Performance is part of De/Attachment Exhibition opening night programme. General Ticket includes unlimited snacks and one drink ticket.
Story
Mushtari Afroz
Set Design and Lighting
Emerging Young Artists
Concept, Choreography & Dance
Tamar Ilana (Flamenco) and Mushtari Afroz (Kathak)
Music
Vocal - Tamar Ilana
Kathak Bol Parhant - Mushtari Afroz, Ahilan Kathirgamathamby
Percussion - Ahilan Kathirgamathamby
Kathak Taal - Teen Taal (16 beat rhythmic cycle)
About
Resist/Co-exist tells the story of two dancers from different cultures who live in the same place they’ve adopted as their new home. One dancer embodies the Spanish tradition of flamenco and the other embodies the North Indian Kathak tradition.
Will the dancers stay in rigid cultural silos and resist each other? Is this resistance necessary in order to preserve their own culture and traditions? Or, do they break down barriers and share each other’s values and coexist in harmony? Does coexistence mean traditions fade as they lose sense of what is “ours” and what is “theirs”? Can the adopted home put resistance and coexistence in equilibrium?
Artists
Tamar Ilana
Tamar has been dancing Flamenco since the age of 7, and singing since she can remember. Born in Toronto, she grew up traveling the world with her ethnomusicologist mother, and is of Jewish, Native, Romanian and Scottish descent. Tamar has been nominated twice for "Best Traditional Singer" by the Canadian Folk Music Awards, and Ventanas has been nominated for "Best Ensemble" and "Best World Music Group". Tamar is currently working on a new project, Meegwetch, which brings together seven women with various Indigenous mixed background, fusing Flamenco, Fancy Shawl, Maracatú and Modern Dance. www.tamarilana.com
Ahilan Kathirgamathamby
As a child, Ahilan was in love with dance, especially the synchronicity of the dancer and the drum. The minute facial expressions, hand gestures, feet steps, and the feelings evoked from the dancer is played through his fingers and emotions as a percussionist. This is what he lives for. Ahilan has performed many dance projects in Bharathanatyam and Kuchipudi for over 20 years and expanding his play with Kathak, Flamenco with numerous projects and other dance genres. Ahilan has also been teaching for more than 20 years, something he loves to do daily.
Outside of percussion, Ahilan is a Life Coach, Filmmaker, and Photographer. The combination of these four elements truly personify who he is, and how his presentations of these can influence people to enjoy their lives.
Mushtari Afroz
Mushtari Afroz is the founder of the group Kathak Bandi that aspires to create classical and contemporary work based on the classical vocabulary of Kathak and South Asian Rhythms. Her specialization in North Indian classical dance Kathak began under Joanna de Souza in Toronto when she immigrated to Canada and flourished under the tutelage of Ms. Saveeta Sharma and Mr. Hemant Panwar.
Besides dance Mushtari was interested in poetry recitation, sketching and scientific article writing. Mushtari specialized in Physics, Mathematics and Statistics, she is very passionate about Particle Physics and aims to bring the obscure concept of science to life through her storytelling dance form.
0 comments