Surjit Nongmeikapam to ignite Delhiites
Source: The Sangai Express / Manipur Info Centre

New Delhi, January 04 2015: Internationally renowned contemporary dancer and choreographer Surjit Nongmeikapam from Manipur is among the contemporary dancers who will perform at the 3rd edition of the IGNITE! Festival of Contemporary Dance 2015 to be held at Delhi from January 11 to 18 this year under the auspices of the Giti Dance Forum in collaboration of the Times of India and Sangeet Natak Akademi.

Prominently he will occupy two spaces at the festival.

One is his solo performance entitled U-Define to be staged at the lawn of Max Muller Bhavan, KG Marg on January 18 .

U Define is an experimental solo that combines the body and its environment through the use of various movement techniques.

It explores the nebulousness of a shaky materialistic world � one that is blinding enough to obscure the real world.

"Are we aware of our future?", asks the choreographer.

"The earth is shaking and the air is being turned into poison due to heavy pollution, but people are enjoying their short lives," he comments.

"How do we see the future? Green, or grey? U Define".

This is the question thrown to the audience.

Surjit Nongmeikapam staging a solo show

U Define was created during the FACETS choreographic residency, organised by Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts as part of the Attakkalari India Biennial 2013 .

Another is his performance with contemporary dancer Rianto from Indonesia entitled SoftMachine: Surjit and Rianto to be staged at Meghdoot Theatre, Rabindra Bhavan, Copernicus Marg on January 12.It is a double bill performance directed by Choy Ka Fai from Singapore who developed the concept.

It is part of the SoftMachine project, which investigates the contemporary status of dance through research across Asia.

Choreography and performance are executed by Surjit and Rianto themselves.

The documentary performance series is an intimate collaboration with the individual choreographers, where, from their individual point of view, they interpret and speculate about the choreographic minds of the present future.

The documentary performance of Surjit Nongmeikapam will present the process of creating a new dance performance for the consumption of the European audience, revealing artistic strategies, marketing ideologies and the precarious attempt at exoticising oneself.

The documentary performance of Rianto explores the tensions between choreographic practices of the traditional vs contemporary, the masculine vs feminine, and the urbanist vs ruralist.

Surjit Nongmeikapam (Bonbon) is from Koirou Mamang Leikai, Thongju Part 2, Canchipur.

He completed Degree in Choreography from the Natya Institute of Kathak and Choreography and has worked with Natya Stem Dance Company and Natya Maya, Bengaluru as a contemporary and traditional dancer.

He has been trained in Kathak, Kalarippayattu, Manipuri, Thang-ta and contemporary, continuing to actively learn other movement styles fron different Gurus and mentors,.

In 2014, he won the Prakiti Excellence in Contemporary Dance award, successfully securing funding and mentorship for his choreographic work.

He established Nachom Arts of Contemporary Movements in 2009.Since then, he has been training students as well as organizing events in Manipur in collaboration with many choreographers from across the globe.

IGNITE! Festival of Contemporary Dance was started in 2010 and is now on its 3rd Edition.

It is organised by the GATI Dance Forum founded in 2007, which works to create a vibrant engagement with contemporary dance through opportunities for reflection, interrogation and innovation.

IGNITE! held every two years, is the only Festival in India with a focus on contemporary Indian dance.

This year it expands this focus to include neighbouring countries in the region.

The performers and performances in 2015 will come from across India including Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, Kashmir, Kerala, Manipur, Mumbai and Nagaland; and the international participants will come from countries like Bangladesh, France, Germany, Indonesia, Singapore, Switzerland, Sri Lanka , Japan, US and UK.

Each performance is steeped in the South Asian context.

The Festival begins with Terence Lewis 'Scrambled Eggs' showing for the first time in Delhi and is set to take place at Siri Fort Auditorium.

The lineup of performers include among others - Annette Leday, Christina Zakiesato, Choy Ka Fai, Helena Waldmann, Santosh Nair, Mirra Arun, Namrata Pamnani, Navtej Singh Johar, Padmini Chettur, Rakesh MPS, Rajan Rathore, Riya Mandal, Rianto, Surjit Nongmeikapam, Venuri Perera and many more.

The Festival also includes a 3 day conference which looks at critical issues in the contemporary movement space in the region, interspersed with workshops and master-classes which are being led by expert practitioners across the arts, including arts policy and management.