It was not long ago that Israeli dancer and choreographer Shaken Dagan tapped to Indian beats. She was here again with her show Kindling. The dancer told Iknoor Kaur that it was a tribute to womanhood
In India dance is not only an art form but a display of emotions. It narrates a story. Inspired from the desi funda Israeli dancer and choreographer, Shaked Dagan transformed her dance style into an expressive abstract performance called Kindling. Composed and choreographed in India, Shaked said that the show was conceptualised on femininity and womanhood. “I believe in equality for women and have tried to portray that through our dance. It is my perspective on how life is from a woman's point of view,” she added.
Kindling was a multi-cultural performance by seven female-artists of different nationalities representing dance, theatre and music. The show took two-months of hard work and was a part of their second ‘Home-India’ project, conceptualised and directed by Shaked Dagan.
The 26-year-old choreographer feels that this performance is a part of her duty as a woman. She stated, “When I left Israel and came to India, the gang-rape had just happened and I saw all these women flocking the streets fighting for their empowerment. Since we were such a large group that performed and expressed through this artform, I felt that it was our duty to stand up for them and show our support for all Indian women. The situation was extremely touching for me and even though I had been to India earlier, this was the turning point and I could feel the change.” She feels that she could use the power of dance to carry forward the struggle and make the world empathise with the women in this country.
Shaked and her group of six more women have been touring with the Kindling since a month. Members of her troupe were Ayelet Yekutiel, Carson Reiners, Birgitte lundtoft, Keren Bossin, Monika Smekot and Kaeridwyn Newman. So far they have performed in Dharamshala, Manipur, Gurgaon and New Delhi.
They have also received a lot of responses. She said, “As Indians associate story-telling with dance, it was a little difficult for the audience to understand our abstract concept. Our performance is an abstract one, with many small stories weaved together. However, most of them managed to associate their lives to our performance.”
Commenting on her future performances in India she said that she would first like to tour with the same show in the entire country and then think of other concepts.
Her last performance was at India Habitat Centre and Epicentre, Gurgaon.