Monday, January 14, 2008

free running . pina bausch

i am fascinated by the concept of free running. amay tells me there is group of people in chembur who have begun a club. there is something subversive about running wild in the direction of a randomly picked vector in the city. by becoming a wild animal rushing over the pavements and compound walls, the city becomes a forest by our return to our primeval selves. our bodies destroy notions of order by slicing property lines, juxtaposing differences into one experience, overturning the strict boundaries that we have constructed in an effort to civilize. bodies make new maps through what they experience in that fleeting mad race. on marine drive sapna has decided to map the movement of bodies as they trace thorugh gesture and posture a way of inhabitation. luckiliy she is a dancer.
at the pina bausch rehearsal of ‘bamboo blues’ at ncpa the same evening (friday)dancers from around the world performed a work inspired by her visit to kokata and kerala with the men and the women dressed in lungis and flowing gowns respectively. granted the india inspirations were rather superficial – but why should we expect anymore, but it was still less exploitative than that midsummer nights dream from last week. but the dancers were divine. their bodies in all shapes and sizes swirled and leaped gracefully across the stage; sometimes one body would split into two- one part pushing the other part - sometimes a palm could twist the body off the stage into the air.

1 comment:

meghu said...

ive been fascinated by free running too! been dying to know how to do it. im sure its incredibly liberating..

if you know anything about the chembur club let me know please