Anwesha Company

Anwesha Company

The Company is based in Watford, Hertfordshire and was established in September 2006. The company aim to create dance which is thought provoking, original and exciting, interpreting the contemporary voice of today.

Anwesha Company seeks to create a strong base in the UK for Manipuri dance, opening up knowledge of the traditional basis of the movements and the fusion that can be attained with contemporary forms of expression. Other traditional Indian and South Asian dance forms already have strong bases in the UK; but as people from north east India have typically been less mobile than their compatriots, Manipuri has to date rarely been experienced here. With Anwesha's unique heritage and love of Manipuri and her contemporary interpretations if it, Anwesha Company seeks to work with contemporary Western dancers and those already practising other traditional Indian dance forms in contemporary fusion.

The Company wishes to teach; to strengthen the body of practitioners of the form; and to produce original performances to introduce audiences to this new physical language. This takes Manipuri beyond the strict expression of religious beliefs to reveal it as a pure art form in itself, open to appreciation and understanding far beyond the enclosed society of its origin.

 

Company members

Carrie Syckelmoore: Dancer for ' A Minds Journey in Search of Destiny'
Upon graduating from Chichester University in 2005, with a BA Hons Degree in Contemporary Dance, Carrie has been working as a freelancer dancer and teacher in the Hampshire, Wiltshire and London areas. She has performed in many dance companies, including BodyJack Dance Company, Baseline Circus, Cameo Dance Company, and T-Stars Dance Company, among others.

Her collaborations with digital poet Loss Glazier lead to a tour of their work in New York, Paris and London. She has also worked on dance for film projects with dance for film maker Elliot Caplan, in New York and Chichester.

  Carrie

Carrie acknowledges "Being part of Anwesha Company has enabled me to learn and experience the Indian Classical art form of Manipuri, and develop an exciting and eclectic movement language that fuses and explores the strict Manipuri style, with a free and boundless contemporary dance style. Using live spoken word within the choreography brings a deep and personal meaning to the production, as the audience are allowed an insight into the mind and feelings of Anwesha."

 

Rachel Landers: Dancer for Plasmas
B.A. Dance: Northern Ballet School.

Manipuri Dance is a new concept for me. It is very aesthetic and I have really enjoyed learning a new way of moving my arms and hands to express different feelings and emotions. The combination of Manipuri dance with western Contemporary is very interesting and works well, I believe.

Although a lot of Indian Dance style movement felt very new to start with, and sometime a bit awkward on our bodies, I now find it very satisfying and enjoyable. Learning Manipuri has been an exciting challenge and a worthwhile experience and I hope to develop what I have learnt, in the future.

  Rachel

 

Catriona Johnson: Dancer of Plasmas
BPA Honours in Northern School of Contemporary Dance, Leeds.

I am very interested in multi-cultural dance. I am interested in exploring other dance forms, and how I can interpret these other dance styles onto my own body. I want to develop my own movement vocabulary, and use the knowledge I have of these other styles, to create something new and interesting.

Working with Anwesha has been a learning experience, as Manipuri dance, is something very new and unfamiliar to me.

  Catriona

 

Kirit Singh: Musician of Plasmas
Learning Sarangi from Ustad Surjeet Singh and Professor Surinder Singh for three years, Interest in music - Indian Classical music ( Traditional Sikh Keertan - Devotional Music) and Western classical music.

'This production has given me the great new experience of working in a team, accompanying live dance, and secondly incorporating a fusion of western and eastern musical styles into my playing of the sarangi.

It has been a great fun working with such fine musicians and dancers with a director full of wonderful ideas'.

  Kirit

 

Yentl De Wardt: Dancer for Plasmas and 'A Minds Journey in Search of Destiny'
A graduate from the Royal Balletschool in Antwerp and P.A.R.T.S. During her studies she worked with Lance Gries, David Hernandez, Salva Sanchis and Roberto Olivan and performed in Gent, Antwerp, Brussels, Marseille and Lisbon. After graduation she worked with the Anurekha Ghosh and Company based in Birmingham.

In 2008 she joined the Siwic-Ensemble in Zurich and worked with Cie 13 -Rosa Mei in Antwerp and performed ' Body Babel ' in Belgium, Turkey and Lithuania. She also created her own work ' Not that one, but the others' with Sung-Im Her coproduced by CC Genk and the Flemish Governement.

What interests her in Anwesha's work is the fusion between Manipuri and contemporary dance and the cultural exchange.

  Yentl


Will Street: Musician of Plasmas
Will has studied at Berklee College of Music, Boston, and St John's College, Cambridge. He composes and performs across classical, jazz and rock music, gave the premiere of David Schiff's jazz violin concerto Four Sisters, and has recently completed a 60-minute suite for 18 musicians, 7 Colours of Love. He has worked with a wide range of artists including Usher, Michael Brecker, Shirley Horn and Steven Tyler.

Of his involvement with 'Plasmas', Will says, "It's inspiring to write music to such beautifully controlled yet expressive movement. I hope that the blend of composition and improvisation and the variations in texture provided by the three musicians compliment the flow of the dance. It's been enriching and challenging for me to negotiate between my own predominantly western influences and a culture which is new and mysterious to me."

  Will


Asim Ahmed: Dialogue writer 'A Minds Journey in Search of Destiny'
BA(Honors) and MA in English Literature.

Being a part of this company is a matter of great pleasure for me. At the same time I think it is further contributing to my personal development.

Company's recent work "A Minds journey in search of Destiny" where I tried to delineate the inner workings of a human being in regards to his social life in the total context of his\her existance and intelligence. At the same time it was really a quest that it conveys was to find out the psycological reality, the possibilities and the sources of human being in the development of self in regard to his/her mental growth and imagination.

  Asim


Nic Saunders: Music Composer 'A Mind Journey in Search of destiny'
Nic Saunders studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama from 1986-91. He was composer in residence for the maverick dance company Dance Unlimited for their final 4 years. Their performances include the opening of the Harrogate Festival with "Trudy's Pig Farm" and "Blue Bridge Red River" in the International Baignolet Competition. Nic has also composed for a number of feature films including the recent "Delhi Boom" distributed by Minerva Pictures in Italy.

Working with Anwesha has been very exciting. I was impressed by her clarity of perception in all areas of the performance from lighting and design to a keen sense of the music. The performance itself was impressive to combine video so integrally with the dance.

The music itself contains many layers that I consciously have related to the subject.

  Nic


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