UK based Candoco Dance Company works with both regular and specially-abled kids and encourages them to hone their talent. Producer Marianne Mogendorff shares with Arjita Mishra that the group's maiden trip to India will enable it to forge new relations between the two countries
Remember the group Ability UnlimitedIJ A bright group of talented wheelchair bound dancers who not only made their way to the Guinness Book of World Records but also set ablaze the stages of shows like Dance India Dance and India’s Got TalentIJ
Well, there is a company by the name of Candoco Dance Company, based out of the UK, who has set an exemplary milestone in the way we see dancers. They work with regular and specially-able kids and encourages them to hone their dancing skills.
In the group’s maiden trip to India, they brought with them a unique dance production called Studies for C, put together and composed of composed by an award-winning choreographer Javier de Frutos. We were interested to know more about the production and Marianne Mogendorff, programme and touring producer of the company told us that the production is connected to the text of the play Camino Real written by Tennessee Williams and Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. “The idea of the performance is all about relationship. It is about how two people interact with each other day to day and are unable to escape the domestic world they inhabit because their reliance on each other has become so strong,” she added.
And its just not the execution that steals the heart, the costumes catch the eye as well. For starters, the masks that the dancers use is not something you would ordinarily see. “They are Mexican wrestling masks and we use them as props,” Mogendorff said and pointed out to the costumes which had texts and quotes written all over them. “The choreographer, Javier, is particularly interested in the writings of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, who famously said, ‘I would rather die on my feet than live on my knees,’” Mogendorff explained.
Candoco Dance Company was established in 1991 and was formed by Celeste Dandeker and Adam Benjamin. We came to know from Mogendorff that Celeste was a professional dancer and that she met an accident which left her wheelchair bound. “After sometime, Adam decided to make a company which can help specially abled people to fulfill their dreams of becoming a dancer and that is how the company started,” Mogendorff added.
Seven dancers now form the core of the company. They commission and produce work by world class choreographers and also tour with them both within the country and internationally. “We deliver an extensive learning programme to provide access to the highest quality of dance, either as part of a developing career or for pure enjoyment. The company creates excellent and profound experiences for audiences and participants that excite, challenge and broaden perceptions of art and ability, and place people and collaboration at the heart of our work. We have about four or five pieces ready with us at all times so that we can use it during our tour,” the producer pointed out.
Speaking at the British Council where they recently staged their performance, Mogendorff said that the aim of bringing the company to India was to engage in a cultural dialogue through the performing art, transcending the barriers of physical disability. Before their show in the Capital, they had been to Kolkata and Chennai and their experience was “great.” “It was a great experience in each of the cities. I wasn’t there but the artistes told me about the audience and according to them, the audience seemed to be very excited about the contemporary dance. It was also brilliant because we got an opportunity to do two workshops in each city and work with the people there and let them experience the different techniques of the art form,” Mogendorff wrapped up.