E. Gaynell Sherrod, associate professor of dance, got the chance to share an intimate discussion with Ananya Chatterjea, the artistic director of Ananya Dance Theatre. Sherrod had an opportunity to speak with her Chatterjea after following the Indian dance company’s performances of Shaatranga at VCUarts late last year.
In the interview, posted to the Urban Bush Women Choreographic Center Initiative blog, Sherrod provides vivid descriptions and biographical context to Chatterjea’s explanation of her artistic drives and inspirations.
Sherrod: Chatterjea choreographs dances that are evening length works—90 minutes or more, without intermission. These non-linear narratives are conversations of discord and balance carried by the dancers as narrators and the audience as responders. Her works are performative experiences, grounded in an observer-participatory framework, wherein she offers interactive workshops and invites participants to contribute to conversation—either afar or by sharing the stage. It is a choice—not required. Nonetheless, the viewer will be immersed in the experience. The exceptional mixed media—images, visuals and sets create a third dimension breaking the fourth wall of the proscenium. The viewer becomes a part of the dance as life-like images and participatory interactions engulf the theater. This synergy of many voices in reciprocity through dance and call and response is palpable and requires a continuum—no breaks, no interruption—no intermission.
Chatterjea:“It’s a singular stream of intersecting non-linear narratives, the juxtaposition of different stories, and they’re held together by this energetic tension between them. They need to be experienced as a whole continuous conversation, not with a break between them.”
Read the full interview at the Urban Bush Women blog.
Lead image courtesy of Ananya Dance Theatre. Photo by Paul Virtuccio.
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