About usThe Attakkalari India Biennial - Bengaluru

January to March 2024
A confluence of urban somatic expressions

- CITY KINETIC

The Attakkalari India Biennial has been widely acclaimed as a window to global artistry for Indian artists and audiences, particularly those in Bengaluru and other parts of Karnataka. This year, its vision remains unwavering in its aspiration, concept, and execution. Aligned with the "VIBRANT BANGALORE" theme of the Karnataka Government, this festival aims to enrich Bengaluru's cultural tapestry by showcasing diverse works from across the globe and the country, fostering an atmosphere that is truly international and cosmopolitan. 

An array of performances spanning multiple genres and themes, alongside workshops and masterclasses featuring the latest insights and expertise from the global performing arts domain, will be on offer. The festival will also facilitate residencies to cultivate new artistic productions, invigorating conversations that spur the exchange of ideas, and captivating installations that ignite fresh perspectives. 

Acknowledging the burgeoning potential of contemporary movement arts in India, this festival endeavors to cultivate opportunities and fortify international collaborations to present innovative, thought-provoking original works. It seeks to curate groundbreaking experiences through site-specific performances, residencies, masterclasses, workshops, discussions, and collaborative projects involving artists from India, Switzerland, Korea, Canada, Norway, Italy, the UK, Austria, Spain, Germany, Japan, Australia, and numerous other nations. In essence, the festival promises something exceptional for every attendee.

Through strategic collaborations and partnerships among artists, organizations, educational institutions, and a network of supporters, the Attakkalari India Biennial has been reimagined as a community-centric event. The festival’s events will span throughout January – March 2024, supplemented by pre-festival activities such as building partnerships with universities, educational institutions, and cultural organizations—a process that has already commenced. Leveraging its robust artistic and technical capabilities, the festival will offer select workshops, conferences, talks, and film screenings both in-person and online for broader accessibility.

In anticipation of the Biennial, Attakkalari will spearhead significant Skills Development Initiatives such as a comprehensive 2-year Diploma Course in Movement Arts & Pedagogy, and a condensed 6-month course, Sankshipta Course, tailored for working professionals and full-time students. Attakkalari’s Mobile Academy team has already forged relationships with Srishti Manipal Institute of Arts, Design and Technology, Christ University, R.V. University and many schools to provide them with a range of dance and movement arts projects. As part of the Government of Karnataka’s Unboxing BLR initiative, Attakkalari has initiated a series of performances, international workshops, regular classes, and community engagement programs throughout December 2023. These educational efforts aim to amplify awareness about dance and movement arts, nurturing a cohort of young talents bridging the gap between the professional performing arts scene and education. This initiative seeks to ensure broader student involvement in the festival’s activities.

Centrally located in Bangalore, Attakkalari has three large, well-equipped dance studios with state-of-the-art facilities, including sprung wooden dance floors, linoleum mats, mirrors, an intimate black box theatre, a conference room, a café, reception area, administrative facilities, and a fully furnished guest house. Collaborating with educational partners and regular venues such as Ranga Shankara, Bangalore International Centre, Rangamandala Theatre at Attakkalari, Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Bangalore, and Alliance Francaise de Bangalore, the festival presents a diverse array of spaces for performances, workshops, film screenings, and conferences.

Furthermore, cultural partners such as Dept. of Tourism (Karnataka), ICCR, Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan Bangalore, Spanish Embassy, Norwegian Embassy, Institut Francaise, Alliance Francaise, Pro Helvetia, InKo Centre, British Council, among others, have pledged support for the festival. Additionally, through our collaboration with TransMedia Technologies, known for their impeccable technical expertise and top-notch equipment, we aim to deliver flawless technical services for the festival’s events. Our production team is poised to handle multiple creations and activities, while our dedicated marketing and publicity team will ensure the biennial’s extensive reach and visibility across various media channels, including social and online platforms.

Attakkalari India Biennials

Background at a glance

125 +
Performances & workshops
125 +
Global Dance Companies
1500 +
Artists
60000 +
Audience & Participants
50000 +
Dedicated Recipients of Publicity
12000000 +
People Reached

The diversity in the artists and artworks presented over the years is a testimony to Attakkalari’s commitment as a pioneer institution of contemporary movement arts in South Asia. In the non-biennial festival years, Attakkalari conducts “BODY MATTERS - Move to Transform” as an art in education festival by partnering with many educational institutions, thus offering dance services to academic community and public. Due to the special situation necessitated by the COVID pandemic, the biennial in 2021- 22 titled “Inspire Bangalore” was a hybrid festival spread over 3 months aimed to reignite the habit of viewing performances and participating in allied activities.   Bangalore Moves - 2018 on the other hand was a ten-day intense festival with activities happening in multiple venues throughout the day. In the last two Biennial festivals alone artists from Germany, Spain, France, South Korea, South Africa, Switzerland, Poland, Portugal, Israel, the UK, Australia, Sweden, Netherlands, Japan, Ireland, Vietnam, Malaysia, Norway, Canada and other countries came together in Bengaluru for a carnival of performances, talks, platform events, ‘writing on dance’ lab, dance publication ‘Ligament’,  cultural administration exchanges, workshops, masterclasses, site specific explorations and many other experiences across several venues in the city. All the editions of the biennial have always sought and succeeded in garnering support and collaboration from an array of national and international artists, arts organisations, governments and donors in the interest of putting Bengaluru and India on the map of international contemporary movement arts, bringing the global palette of dance to Bengaluru’s doorstep, thus infusing, inspiring and educating the people with a variety of flavours in movement not found elsewhere in the rest of South Asia.

The past editions of the festival have even had an impressive international media coverage: National Geographic, Swedish National TV, Franco-German Channel ARTE, NHK-TV, Gulf News, Wall Street Journal to name a few.

Watch Preview of AIB 2021-22
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Now in its 11th edition, the Attakkalari India Biennial (AIB) has worked hard at consistently being South Asia’s most important and largest international contemporary dance and movement arts festival for two decades.

The ones who run the show

The Festival Team

Jayachandran Palazhy

Founder & Artistic Director

Jayachandran Palazhy

Founder & Artistic Director
Founder and Artistic Director of Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts is an internationally sought after dancer and choreographer at the forefront of the contemporary Indian movement arts scene. A Physics graduate from Kerala, Jayachandran trained in India in Bharatanatyam, Kathakali, Indian folk dances and the martial art form of Kalarippayattu. Moving to London, where he lived for 15 years, Jayachandran trained at the prestigious London Contemporary Dance School and also studied Classical Ballet, Tai Chi, Capoeira and African Dance. During his time in London he established the Imlata Dance Company which was supported by Arts Council of England and several UK based national dance agencies. While in the U.K., he was awarded the Barclays New Stage Award for innovative work and selected to represent the UK as an emerging choreographer in an international forum.
Attakkalari India Beinnial 2024 is

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