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Feat of clay

Preethi Athreya (file photo)

Ever thought of dancing to the tunes of refined ceramic? Preethi Athreya does. Porcelain dance marked the closing of The Park’s New Festival, initiative of The Park Hotels and Prakriti Foundation, to promote Indian performing Arts.

With colourful lights and a porcelain background, the projector played an integral role, helping create her shadow, only to double the art effects. The music created solely from porcelain art objects by Tobias Sturmer, a percussionist, composer and ethnomusicologist, was not what might be conventionally considered dance music. It conjured images — of pots, moving and breaking! The ceramics beaten and blown produced a unique sound, sometimes foot tapping and sometimes reminding one of lonely walks on windy nights.

Exploiting bodyline and symmetry, Preethi made moves, slow and gradual, standing tall and lying on the floor with all her grace and classical dance training, keeping the audience glued to their seats. She would get up at the whistling sound through the porcelain and then, bending slowly like a master of yoga, fall down again at a sudden click of porcelain, putting up a show altogether novel.

The first event of The Park’s New Festival was the spirited and humorous theatrical performance – Jazz by Mumbai-based Stagesmith. “We are concluding the festival with this solo performance where a unique collaboration of image, sound and movement as well as a coming together of different artistic and cultural milieus would get an equally enthusiastic response in Delhi as it did in Chennai,” said Ranvir Shah, Founder, Prakriti Foundation, and curator of the festival.

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