Mandeep Raikhy presents Inhabited Geometry at STEPS in Switzerland

INHABITED GEOMETRY at Dance Festival STEPS scheduled to take place from 24 April to 17 May 2014.

Indian Choreographer Mandeep Raikhy of GATI Dance Forum India, has been invited to Switzerland along with his group of dancers to present INHABITED GEOMETRY at the DANCE FESTIVAL STEPS scheduled to take place from 24 April to 17 May 2014.

The multimedia work Inhabited Geometry uses transient imagery to present space as an unattainable dream, and seduces audiences with its rapid fusion of Indian Bharata Natyam and contemporary dance.

In a black and white space, the delicate and clearly defined contours of six dancers engender rapidly flowing movements to create a highly elaborate universe. In Inhabited Geometry, choreographer Mandeep Raikhy generates spaces that evoke both home and homeland, but which also make room for individuality, friction and conflict. German media artist Chris Ziegler compresses and layers the choreography using cinematic spaces, allowing the dancers to merge with the transient imagery and make one thing very clear: on the overpopulated Indian subcontinent, sufficient living space is a rare commodity.

While at home with the traditional Indian dance Bharata Natyam and the martial art Kalaripayattu, Mandeep Raikhy and his dancers are also very much in tune with contemporary European dance.

"Many dancers in India are trying to achieve this organic combination of Bharatanatyam and western forms of contemporary dance, but not every one of them is able to achieve the 'organic-ness' of it the way Mandeep and his dancers have." DANCECRITIQUE ANON

choreography Mandeep Raikhy | 
music Ish Shehrawat + diFfuSed beats (Sound Reasons) | 
multimedia design Chris Ziegler | 
dancers 6 | 
length 60 min. without an interval 

MANDEEP RAIKHY 
Mandeep Raikhy was a dancer at the Shabana Jeyasign Dance Company in London between 2005 and 2009. He has been managing director of the Gati Dance Forums in Delhi since 2009. As a choreographer, he's interested in fusing India's traditional dance styles with contemporary dance. His first full-length work,Inhabited Geometry, was a success in India in 2010/11. Raikhy holds a BA from the Laban Dance Centre in London.

CHRIS ZIEGLER
After studying architecture and media art, Chris Ziegler focused his efforts on the interaction between video, dance and performance. As a freelance media artist, he designed multimedia and interactive dance workshops for the Goethe Institute in the Ukraine, Singapore and Japan and worked for William Forsythe's ballet company in Frankfurt (1999-2004). He was made an associate artist in 1993 and has worked as an assistant lecturer at the Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe since 2001.

TOUR
25.04. ZürichTheaterhaus Gessnerallee, 20:00 discussion 
27.04. MoutierSalle de Chantemerle, 19:00 discussion, 20:15
30.04. Le Lignon - VernierSalle des Fêtes de Lignon, 20:00 introduction
03.05. BernDampfzentrale Bern, 20:00 introduction, 19:00
04.05. OltenKulturzentrum Schützi Olten, 20:30 introduction, 20:15
06.05. SteckbornPhoenix Theater 81, 20:15 discussion

For more information visit http://www.steps.ch/Programme/Agenda-Detail?uniqueId=161156_161158_2014042520140425