Kathak exponent Aditi Mangaldas describes the process of creation and inspiration behind a production born during the pandemic that grapples with reality and illusion, and reflects on its journey from an online festival to its stage premiere at the NCPA.
With inputs from Sangeeta Rana.
“We’ve made it to the life raft. Dry land is far away,” said American epidemiologist Marc Lipsitch, talking about the pandemic as it engulfed the globe.
The thing we had to fear was fear itself, as the unknown enveloped our world. It was a strange time, to say the least. A phenomenon was impacting the entire human population and had managed to shut down the world, probably for the first time in living memory.
In a world where connectivity was instantaneous, empathy seemed to have declined. People, with ready access to information and an ability to connect on a global level, had grown more distant and isolated. And then, like lightning, the pandemic struck. It became the great equaliser that brought all of us together.
Dance needs to breathe the air of the NOW. It cannot survive in a vacuum. As the pandemic raged through the world, time and space became amorphous. My dance and emotions too were embroiled in this viscous amalgam of tumbling moments.
When I was commissioned by Sampradaya Dance Creations, Canada, to create a new work in film format for their first International Digital Dance Festival to be presented in May 2021, I was struggling to find something that would be creatively profound, artistically engaging as well as relevant to the time artistically engaging as well as relevant to the times. More so because the creative process was unravelling in the midst of a raging pandemic, and life as we knew it had ceased to exist.
Inspiration came from diverse sources. A few weeks prior, during our many Zoom rehearsals, Kathak dancer and choreographer Gauri Diwakar had shared a beautiful piece by the poet Bharatendu Harishchandra. As the full celebration of life was denied to humanity at that time, the protagonist being human seemed unconvincing.
Then, during a late evening drive on the beautiful island of Sylt in Germany, I was awestruck as the dark night was gently illuminated by a gigantic red moon. I also simultaneously noticed its reflection in the unexpectedly calm waters of the North Sea.
The moment transported me into the depth of a dark forest holding within itself two moons. What if I were a deer, free to roam the dark forest, during these turbulent times? Startled and joyous at the sight of two moons, I imagined the deer—the protagonist— wondering which moon was real and which an illusion.
Was this not similar to what we were all grappling with? What was real and what was an illusion? These contrasting perceptions seemed to be in a constant churn within the cauldron of our lives.
After many deliberations over Zoom with the singer and composer Shubha Mudgal and the tabla player and composer, Aneesh Pradhan, who composed the music for LOST… in the forest!, I received an array of poems and texts from them, each reflecting the ongoing human predicament.
One poem by Kunwar Narayan instantly touched my heart. Without any form of explanation, ‘Naav Mein Nadiya’ (The River in the Boat) portrayed the conflict, the anxiety and our tumultuous upside-down existence at that time. Forced by circumstances of the lockdown, dancers, who previously had direct physical contact with the audience, had gone digital. We started making short films, using space, light and objects that were available within the confines of our homes. During one of these explorations, the ‘found objects’ that artistically intrigued and interested me were a pile of discarded empty wooden frames.
The empty frames were deeply symbolic—removed from reality, barren and bare, detached from the walls where they belonged. I randomly suspended these empty frames in the middle of the room, meaningless and vacant, devoid of all narratives. In those strange times, our narratives were unknown. These empty frames then became the narratives themselves.
Anxiety. Doubt. Acceptance. Adaptation. Transformation. First came the dread with the uncertainty. The questions came loaded with anxiety. But then time slowed, and one was able to reach out and reach in. The questions were no longer fears. Finding expanse in one’s mind, body and heart allowed one to find creativity in existing realities. After that, the process took over. Immersion. Abandon. Release. Freedom… And yet?
Kudos to the human spirit that we have sprung back with vivacity and zest. Though those few years are a black hole that affected each one of us, some much more tragically than others, the human spirit has survived.
I am most grateful to the NCPA for having faith in my work and presenting the premiere of the live staged version of LOST… in the forest! at the Jamshed Bhabha Theatre. I would also like to thank G5A Foundation for Contemporary Culture, Mumbai, for their support in hosting the technical residency to build this production.
As I get immersed in the staging of this work with an amazing group of collaborators—including sculptor Manish Kansara and light designer Govind Singh Yadav—I celebrate the human spirit and cherish every aspect of being alive on this beautiful earth.
The philosopher J. Krishnamurti once said, “To live in the eternal present there must be death to the past, to memory. In this death there is timeless renewal.” As I sat reflecting on the two glorious moons on that special night on the island of Sylt, the words below came to my mind without deliberation, without search, without exploration.
LOST… in the forest!
The deer startled!
Two moons? Which is what?
What is real and what is an illusion?
Is the illusion real? A REAL illusion?
Ah! says the deer,
I am lost,
LOST… in the forest!
And the pilgrim on the boat? Lost?
Am I lost? The wanderer asks.
Lost in time or time lost in me?
Lost in space or space lost in me?
River? Still? A STILL river?
A turbulent boat, hurtling down! But to where?
On what? Where is the water? Where is the river?
In the boat! The river is in the boat! Lost river, lost boat!
Time? Space? Narratives?
Framed? Unframed?
Life?… Ah! Lost narratives!
LOST… River… Boat… Deer… Space… Time…
Narratives!
LOST… Me!
LOST… in the forest!
And the deer, leaps across, free!
The digital work LOST… in the forest! was commissioned in 2020 by Sampradaya Dance Creations, Canada, and supported by Toulmin Creatorship, through The Center for Ballet and the Arts, New York University and National Sawdust Partnership USA, Aditi Mangaldas Dance Company and The Drishtikon Dance Foundation.
The paragraph in italics is taken from the synopsis of Amorphous, a short dance film made by Aditi Mangaldas during the pandemic. It was written by Shambhavi Singh, OddBird Theatre & Foundation, post her dialogue with Mangaldas regarding Amorphous.
LOST… in the forest! will premiere onstage on 9th August at the Jamshed Bhabha Theatre.
This article was originally published in the July 2024 issue of ON Stage.
