Lady Lazarus and Other Sisters

A devised Kathak performance based on research texts and two poems of Sylvia Plath.

The performance extended itself as a dance based poetic reading of theoretical as well as poetic texts that are either self-confessional poems, or rituals and customs of witchcraft sourced from various Indian ethnicities. Two poems of Sylvia Plath that have been picked for this performance are Lady Lazarus and Witch Burning, both of which were written as persona poems and are relatively lesser known.

The attempt in the performance was twofold:

• Incorporating the taboo stories of phantasmagoric anti-heroine in the repertoire of Kathak.
• Recollecting anecdotes of witchcraft and not merely of witch-hunting.

The performance hopes to be an utterance of the profane through an amalgamation of dance, poetry and textual readings. In a way then, the performance also responds to the works of Judith Galai Agnes displayed at INNER RED.

Performing artist were as follows:

Zooni Tickoo hails Kashmir and learnt Kathak Dance at Kathak Kendra under the tutelage of Pt Krishan Mohan Mishra of Lucknow gharana. After having toured the country with renowned choreographers like Smt Geetanjali Lal, Pt Rajinder Gangani, she has been able to explore and experiment with visual artists like Raqs Media Collective at NGMA and JNU. She is currently part of the curatorial team of Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi.

Dinesh Parihar hails from Jaipur gharana of Kathak dancers and musicians. He was initially trained by his father and guru Shri Dilip Parihar and later by Shri Guru Ravi Shankar Upadhyay. He has been performing with renowned choreographers like Pt Rajinder Gangani and Padamshree Shovna Narayan. He is a running repertory member of Asavari Repertory of Smt Shovna Narayan. He is keen on establishing himself as a singer and rhythmist.

Avijan Sen started to learn tabla since the age of 6 from illustrious tabla exponent Sh. Amitava Gayen in Kolkata. He started to experiment with other genres of Music and so picked up unconventional instruments to perform with international music artists, when he was only 12. Today while still under the able tutelage of renowned tabla
Pt. Debasish Adhibary, his repertoire includes various percussions instruments namely tabla, dholak, cohan, djembe and others instruments including unique cheek-drumming.