Representing the similarities and differences that arise when two cultures come together, The Crossing is a contemporary dance performance with dancers and choreographers from Poland and India. A cross-cultural artistic experience, the show will feature the choreography of Polish dancers Karolina Kroczak and Elwira Piorun of the Zawirowania Dance Theatre and Australian-Indian dancer Ashley Lobo of the Navdhara India Dance Theatre. It comprises the performance of six choreographed pieces, stretched over 75 minutes.
This collaborative contemporary dance production pairs the spiritual East with the rational West. The choreographers celebrate their diversity and common experiences on stage with six dancers from India and Poland. The first two sections of the performance are choreographed by Ashley Lobo, based on Prana Paint — a sensitising approach developed by Ashley that explores movement through yoga, breath, connectivity and touch. “With this technique, I help dancers find their personal expression. This helps in representing the dancer more than the dance,” Ashley explains, stating that it took him about five days to create each composition.
On the other hand, Karolina and Elwira have come up with a modern dance form that includes floor work and derives inspiration from classical dance, “but mostly it’s based on contemporary dance techniques,” explains Elwira, who has separately choreographed one piece of the performance.
Working together on the same dance project despite the differences, both the choreographers believe that cross culture experiences are important for the artist and the audience. “We can get to know each other and our cultures, and at the same time we can get inspired by each other,” says the Polish dancer, adding that for her learning about all of the cultural differences and similarities is exciting. Similarly, for Ashley working with external talent helps him experience and learn their culture and communication process. “Music and dance have an uncanny way of making any kind of perceived difference disappear,” says the dancer.
Talking about the experience of working on a combined project with Indian logistics and dancers, Elwira says, “These kinds of experiences are very important.” All agree that dance is a universal language and hence there is no barrier to communication. But for Ashley working with Polish dancers is not a new experience, and the choreographer is all praise for the two Polish dance directors. “They are both very talented and were extremely generous while working out the logistics, so all the pieces came out well,” Ashley smiles.
When asked if the audience will accept their new style of dance, the choreographers express confidence. Ashley says, “They’ll get to experience something very different, as this style of movement is still new to India and also the content is different in each piece.” Elwira, who feels contemporary dance is similar in both countries, assures, “but there is still a kind of cultural influence that can be seen through this dance performance.”
A similar performance was recently staged in Warsaw, Poland, followed by a discussion between the audience and the artists. Thrilled with the packed house and receptive audience, Ashley assures that here too spectators will get to interact with the artists at the end of the performance.
