Attakkalari India Biennial 2009

Global dance forms to light up stage

India's only festival celebrating the contemporary movement arts, Attakkalari India Biennial 2009, is set to capture your imagination with a spectacular array of twenty-one performances by leading International and Indian contemporary dance troupes. The 10-day celebration of contemporary dance offers a unique platform for individual and fresh voices in dance that will engage with movement text, technology and digital art to reflect new expression, new vision and new intellectual property. Artists from across the globe will showcase exhilarating performances in distinctive individual styles that capture the cultural panorama of a region or community.
This global celebration of the movement arts brings forth with it a blend of multi-venue, multi-layered events with solo performances and some large productions as well as commissioned works by young choreographers. Performances by dance troupes from countries across the globe including Korea, Switzerland, Burkina Faso, Spain, UK, Canada, USA, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Portugal and India will focus on works that incorporate new and emerging technologies in digital arts and interactivity.
To create a more holistic festival and encourage an interactive learning process, this year the event will feature a host of site-specific works, installations, screening of films, seminars, master classes and workshops.
The workshops offer students an opportunity to learn from accomplished artistes and faculty such as Ali Pretty from Kinetika, who will conduct a workshop on costume design. A month-long writer's workshop for mass communication students, offering them an insight into reporting on the movement arts, has been underway under the aegis of the festival. Renowned artists like Karen Schupp, Melinda Blomquist, Mary Fitzgerald, Denis Kuhnert, Francesco Scavetta, Samir Akika will hold Master Classes on the Creative Process and Contemporary Dance Techniques, Hip-Hop/New Style, B-Boying, Funkstyle-Basics, Floorworks and Physical training. An additional element constituting the learning experience at the festival would be 'Conversations' an interconnected set of discourses that involve practical demonstrations, performances as well as theoretical articulations relevant to contemporary Indian Movement Arts.
The festival will also mark the world-premier of 'Chronotopia', the new interactive dance production created by the Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts. 
The Attakkalari India Biennial 2009 is scheduled between February 6th and February 15th, 2009 and will be staged at Chowdiah Memorial Hall, Alliance Française, Max Mueller Bhavan and Ranga Shankara.
Sharing a deeper insight on this initiative, Jayachandran Palazhy, Artistic Director, Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts, says, "Every performance thrives on expressions which are an inherent reflection of distinctive cultures. By exhibiting these collective expressions from different regions and countries under the Attakkalari India Biennial 2009, we want to deliver to the audience a cultural experience that goes beyond geographical and creative boundaries. The festival is designed to help promote a greater understanding, appreciation and respect for cultural diversity and gender equality."
Ali Pretty, Founder, Carnival Designer and Artistic Director, Kinetika, expressing her delight on being associated with the festival says, " Attakkalari India Biennial 2009 is a never-to-miss opportunity in Asia for artists to further explore the concept of digitalism in art and also serves as an exchange program due to the prospect of being able to work with dance troupes and contemporary artistes from all over the globe."