By: LekshmiSajeev
“I love people and movement, so most of the memorable moments are when there is a real connection where you can feel the joy of dance and the realness of being human. This
is my work.”
From The Heart: This was the culmination of a two-year dance therapy project in children’s wards in hospitals. From The Heart depicted a children’s world and the interaction of their lives with those of adults. This work was performed and toured in India and London.
Inside-Outside: A dance-theatre piece based on Korczak’s Polish version of Post Office, which was originally enacted by children during the Second World War in Warsaw. Korczak often employed the form of a fairy tale in order to actually prepare young readers for the dilemmas and difficulties of real adult life and the need to take responsible decisions. This production was specially created to tour Bosnia, just after the war there.
Colour Contacts: This was a performance project commissioned by the Museum of London and explored the city through the eyes of its inhabitants. Images created in dance, rhythms, speech and music were interwoven to create an interactive performance in a public space. These voices and stories were drawn from the oral history collection of the museum. This was performed in various public spaces, such as Southwark tube station and the Brent Shopping Centre.
Little Red Chunni: This collaboration, with storytelling theatre company Wonderful Beast, was created in Jaipur, India with slum kids and public school children. It was performed at the Jaipur International Heritage Festival 2007. Little Red Chunni successfully toured Suffolk schools between March-June in 2007 and ran for two weeks at the Aldeburgh Theatre during the literary festival in July 2008.
Dance picnic: In 2015, when we created dance and picnic in Ashburton Park in Croydon. It was just so lovely to see everyone partaking in movement-based games.
Big dance bus events: In 2016, we produced and curated big dance bus events in Croydon in two parks. The bus came with its own stage to the parks. It was joyous to see so many different varieties of dance styles together on one stage and the diversity of people watching and joining in were both amazing.
The Big Dance: In 2016, Akram Khan choreographed the Big Dance piece at Trafalgar Square in London. Croydon had the largest contingent performing at the event, along with 600-plus other participants. The idea was to have as many people, mainly non-dancers, perform. It was up to us to get various communities and groups in Croydon involved to learn and move together.
Anthem For Peace dance: There is a lot of camaraderie, support and good will in Croydon among artists, organisations and generally everyone. In 2018, Katie Rose, a local artist and musician, commissioned us to create a dance piece that would involve as many people as possible. It was a wonderful opportunity to make the dance with non-dancers and with the many people in Croydon. The Anthem For Peace dance had music by London Mozart Players, lyrics by Shaniqua Benjamin and 270 participants (all local to Croydon). The Croydon Mela 2019 is another special event produced by all local artists and people. It is really wonderful to be able to work on the mela with the lovely Chetna (Kapacee) and Malti (Patel).
Seated dance classes: It is very inspiring to teach a seated dance class to Croydon carers and elders. It is just so lovely to see people move and be inspired to move regardless of their age and ability.
Croydon dance festival: In 2017, a diverse cross-section of people were all drawn to the dance festival in Croydon. Everyone was there, from professional dancers to curious people who walked in from the street, who had never seen live performance before. They all shared the same space and it was very moving to watch.
Anusha Subramanyam of Beeja Dance is a dancer, choreographer and teacher, who has programmed the dance dhamaka stage at the Croydon Mela, which takes place at Wandle Park on July 14 from 1 pm-8 pm. www.croydonmela.com & Instagram, Twitter, Facebook: @croydonmela
