Experience your Pulse with Impulse 2
Started two years ago from now, Impulse is back with its second season to rock India with UK’s rhythm and dance. Organised by the British Council, Impulse is not less than any festival as it aims at developing better understanding between the two countries, UK and India, with the help of various art-forms like theatre, music, dance etc. With the success of its first season in 2012, the British Council has brought three well-known Dance Companies from UK to perform in India in order to provide a glance over this contemporary dance form, about which there is a very little knowledge amongst Indian audiences, and what could be better than watching the real contemporary dance and receiving knowledge right from the artists itself.
Briefing the audience about what ‘Impulse 2’ is all about, Rob Lynes, Director of the British Council said, “With this new season of Impulse our aim is to help showcase exciting new work in the arts, facilitate collaborations, promote arts education, encourage cultural skills development and convene valuable forums for the artists, directors, producers, festival organisers and arts manager from India and the UK to engage in mutually beneficial projects.”
The season is going to be for three months i.e. September to November of this year, and would happen at various places such as Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai. There are three participating companies, Scottish Dance Theatre, Avant Garde Dance and Hofesh Shechter Dance Company, amongst which Scottish Dance Theatre has already been a part of Impulse 1 and the other two are making their India debut this year.
Hofesh Shechter Company has already begun their journey of India from Hyderabad. They had their performance on 5th of September and would be performing in Delhi on September 9th. Expressing about the Hyderabad show, Rob Lynes said, “The Hyderabad experience was amazing. People were astonished to see such work and appreciated the performance. Next performance would be in Delhi, then Bangalore and so on.”
Apart from giving performances, each dance company would also conduct workshops at various centres to impart the knowledge about contemporary dance and to have a direct interaction with the students or practitioners. The workshops are for everyone, from a beginner to the trained dancers. Further, Vivek Mansukhani, from British Council briefed the audience about how the Council has been successfully participating in various sectors like education, arts, culture etc.
Across the nine cities, five of which are the metropolitan cities like – Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai and the rest include- Pune, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad, British Council has a network of nine libraries and cultural centres.
The arts section of the British Council has taken up a new step called, ‘Re-imagine the art’. It is a five year initiative in which British Council is working upon changing the perception of Indians about UK and vice-versa. It aims at providing a wider view about what is contemporary art and is looking forward to take all these performances not only to the metropolitan cities but also to the smaller states. This program also aims at stepping into the digital arena for wider reach of audiences, and in bringing classical and western art-forms together. Apart from all this, Vivek Mansukhani also gave a fade idea about the various other plans that the British Council has in mind.
“The first season of Impulse was a huge hit. The response of the audience was really good and it was the first time, where we could give the essence of the best contemporary British dance. This time in season two, we have three top UK dance companies, and it has taken a lot of effort to bring these three companies down. We hope that the audiences have a lot of fun while experiencing these performances.” says Vivek Mansukhani.
Proceeding further, Hofesh Shechter (the owner of Hofesh Shechter Company and the choreographer and musician of ‘Political Mother’) says, “My Company was formed in 2008 out of necessity and demand coming from all around the world. British Council and I were in conversation since past two years and were planning how to make this tour happen. When things were done and said, I choose to perform ‘Political Mother’ a performance that I created in the year of 2010. I choose this work because it has been able to grab a lot of interest of the audience and on the other hand, has been able to raise a lot of political questions, tensions etc. This piece is about the obsession of a human with power, control etc. And it is something which can be presented anywhere because people would be able to relate with it. So yes, my dancers and I are very excited about the performance we are going to have. Also, I would like to say that the workshops that we are holding here are very important for me and my dancers as it is a way of interaction through which not only the people who participate would learn from us but we would also learn a lot in return.”
Continuing further, Hofesh says that he was quite nervous about making a debut in India; however, his performance at Hyderabad has given him confidence. “More than nervous, it is the feeling of excitement. We are privileged to have a chance of performing in India. People have enjoyed this multi-layered performance as they had something or the other to keep them engaged with it. ‘Political Mother’ has a concept, story-line, music, dance, acting etc. So, I feel lucky that people here are enjoying it, rest let’s see what would be the reaction of New Delhi. There is for sure a tension of acceptance because I don’t know how open Indian audiences are to new things, but I think that is what the fun part is.”
While A.Kameshwari from One World News was wondering that what could possibly have led to the name ‘Political Mother’, Hofesh answering to her said, “I love the connection between these two-words. On the one hand, we all have an emotional connect with our family, our parents and on the other, we feel politically compassionate to our mother-land. Nation is based on such emotional connection, although people take advantage from it. So, I think this is what has led to the naming of this dance-piece as ‘Political Mother’.”
Ending the conversation, Hofesh explained why his dance company’s product is way different from Broadway, “The grounds where our performance and Broadway are similar are that they both have a story, music etc. Although, Broadway is completely meant to entertain people whereas our performance is meant to move people, to make them question about their existence in the world and is not necessarily a happy emotion to be felt.”
‘Political Mother’ by Hofesh Shechter along with the British Council brings to you a crazy experience of feeling madness, anger, grief and what not. The moves are definitely going to keep you amazed and the music which has been given by Hofesh himself is going to keep you engaged and informed about the mood in a particular scene. There is a reason why he and his dance company are called one of the best contemporary performers, so if you are keen to know how they weave the magic in your mind, you have to be a part of it. So, don’t miss it, get your passes and get enthralled by them.
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