Word (2000)

"Languages are worlds of insanely, beautiful complexities. I am intrigued with trying to capture the ‘visual’ shapes inherent in the Tamil language, my mother tongue, through the movement of dance. The intention was to abstract the linear and non-linear forms of the Tamil script, in a hybrid ensemble work employing multiple choreographic and musical tongues. The work was tentatively titled CHOL (WORD). This was one of my early forays into a non-Bharatanatyam ‘setting’. 21 years ago, it was a challenging and unsettling experience breaking ‘old habits’ and letting go of familiar tropes. I was fortunate enough to share in a collaborative journey with awe-inspiring, generous composers Maryem Hassan Tollar and Ernie Tollar whose ethereal, enigmatic music propelled the choreographic structure. A-List dancers Megan Andrews, Michael Du Maresq, Robert Glumbeck and Yvonne Ng brought their oomph-wizardry to the work and created magic. A HUGE shout out to all of them for standing by me through what was, at the time, a ‘terrifying’ adventure. I love them all. Welcome to inDANCE’s WORD…"

Hari Krishnan