FACETS Choreography Residency 2015
JAN 5 - FEB 5

The third edition of the FACETS international choreography residency remains steady in its vision of providing a support system for young, emerging choreographers in South Asia to develop new work: seeing it from proposal to performance with the support of mentorship and collaborators. Also, by showcasing the works that stem from the FACETS residency in different cities in India as well as other South Asian countries, the Attakkalari India Biennial hopes to continue furthering the cause of contemporary dance-making and building a discourse and audiences for the same. Six young choreographers in the FACETS residency were chosen through an open call from the South Asian region Critical Path (Australia), Dance Base (UK), InKo Centre (Chennai) and ArKo (Korea). The focus on the South Asian region, its burgeoning contemporary dance scene, the need to widen the scope of performance and the framework of their artistic practice has been the driving force of the FACETS choreography. . Four other choreographers came through the cultural partners for FACETS.

These young choreographers were mentored by an international panel of 7 experts in choreography, theatre, digital arts and light and sound design over six weeks. The choreographers' original works were produced at FACETS and will be premiered at the Biennial.

Jayachandran Palazhy - FACETS Director
Bangalore, India

Jayachandran Palazhy, a performer and choreographer is also the founder and artistic director of the Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts. Through Attakkalari, he has initiated various interlinked programmes including performance, education, research, documentation, a festival, and stage technologies which have made waves throughout the country and abroad.

FACETS Choreographers

Avantika Bahl
Mumbai, India

Avantika Bahl started her dance career as a jazz performer and teacher in Delhi. She has a diploma from the London Contemporary Dance School, and works as an independent performer. She was a collaborator on a devised movement piece that toured various cities in India in 2012, after which she choreographed a full-length contemporary dance work, {wonkot}. She was a resident at the GATI Summer Dance Residency and also a finalist for the Prakriti Excellence in Contemporary Dance Awards in November 2014. She has been challenging herself to find interesting forms of physical expression using the techniques that she has trained in over the years. She currently teaches and is based out of Mumbai.

Charlotte Jarvis
Edinburgh, Scotland

Charlotte Jarvis is a freelance, professional, contemporary dance artist, choreographer, actress and teacher. She graduated in classical ballet from the London Studio Centre in 2000, and has been teaching contemporary and ballet technique extensively since 2002. After working with the Ballet Nuremberg in Germany, she moved to Edinburgh and has performed and worked with many local Scottish dance and theatre companies, and is also a member of the Lazzi Experimental Unit theatre company. Currently, Charlotte is creating her own solo work, supported and mentored by Morag Deyes, the Artistic Director of Dance Base in Scotland. Her performance work is an ongoing process in the exploration of humanity, the sincerity of movement and storytelling. She works towards bringing awareness to the constantly changing and challenging physical and emotional states of the dancing/moving body.

MEHNEER SUDAN
Mumbai, India

Mehneer Sudan is a dance artist, who has been working in the field of contemporary dance and jazz for over a decade. She is the co-founder of Dance Dialogues (Mumbai), an initiative to build an engaging and supportive dance community in the city; and a founder member of GATI Dance Forum, Delhi. Trained in contemporary and modern dance, jazz, ballet and kathak, Mehneer has been steadily working towards developing her own perfomative style. She has been engaged in teaching, and choreographing for, schools and dance academies.

PATRICK LUCKY LARTEY
Sydney, Australia

Patrick Lartey aka Lucky Lartey is an accomplished kinetic African dancer in Ghana and Australia, and has more than 15 years of training in traditional African dance, Afro-contemporary, salsa and gumboot dancing. Lucky’s knowledge of dance incorporates influences from Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guinea, Senegal, South Africa and other parts of Africa. Lucky has performed and collaborated with contemporary artists and companies in Australia, and has choreographed Afro-contemporary works such as Meeting Point, Calabash and parts of Dance Africa Dance. Lucky’s work as a dancer and choreographer draws on his cultural heritage, versatility, and the dances of West Africa in a contemporary Australian context.

PRADEEP GUNARATHNA
Hidderalalage, Sri Lanka

Pradeep Gunarathna started his dance career at a very young age. He holds a diploma in traditional Sri Lankan dances from the Institute of Aesthetic Studies of the Western Province. Now Pradeep works as an instructor at the Appreggio Creative Dance and Drama Academy. He played the main roles in three dance dramas Another Tempest, Kuvanna- Vijaya and Saptha Naari, a mosaic of artistic expressions about Sri Lankan women based on folklore. Most recently, he premiered his solo work Kunnava’s Metamorphosis at the Colombo Dance Platform 2014. He is currently pursuing a general degree at the University of Visual and Performing Arts, Sri Lanka. And also studying and researching traditional Sri Lankan ritual dance forms.

PRASANNA SAIKIA
Kolkata, India

Prasanna Saikia, repertory head of Rhythmosaic Dance Company, has trained in classical jazz, contemporary dance and kathak with ten years of experience in teaching and choreography. He has performed extensively in dance festivals across the country such as the Uday Shankar Dance Festival, Puri Dance Festival, and the Lucknow Kathak Mahotsav. An empanelled group artist with the Indian Council of Cultural Relations, he has performed nationally and internationally with Rythmosaic, as well as independently in Singapore, France, Malaysia and the United States. He has also performed with the Bejart Ballet Lausanne, in their acclaimed production Bolero.

Soo-Hyun Hwang
Seoul, Korea

Soo-Hyun Hwang is comtemporary dance artist in Korea. She received a Young Art Frontier Grant from Arts Council Korea in 2008. Her first work Timing(2006) was nominated for the final selection at Global Dance Contest in 2009 sponsored by Sadlerʼs Wells. Her work On the Sound was invited to Seoul International Dance Festival in 2010. In 2011-12, she participated in the Emerging Artist Development Program organized by HanPac (Hankuk Performing Arts Center) and created “Co-lab: Seoul- Berlin” through an eight-month research process.The work has received much recognition and was selected for the Rising Star program, organised HanPac in 2012.

Woo-Jung Kim
Seoul, Korea

Woo-Jung Kim has been a representative of superB Dance Theatre since 2009 and is now also an associate professor in the Department of Practical Dance at Paekche Art College. She took an undergraduate course in acting in Korea and has a Diploma in Theatre Dance and Contemporary Dance from the London Studio Centre. She then did Master's Degree in Choreography at Middlesex University. She has continually tried to create work that is at the intersection of theatre and dance, like her work House Series, a site specific performance. Her narrative dance works include Empty Room, Vulnerable Creature and I am TALKING to you!

DIYA NAIDU
Bangalore, India

Diya Naidu is a contemporary dance and movement artist based in Bangalore and works in the capacities of a performer, facilitator and choreographer. She has trained in kalaripayattu, bharatanatyam and jazz ballet and engaged with yoga, kathak and contact work. Her journey began with The Danceworx in New Delhi after which she worked with Rythmosiac in Koltkata. She then received a Diploma in Movement Arts and Mixed Media from the Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts and was part of its repertory from 2007 to 2014. She is increasingly interested in somatic work and improvisation as a way towards awareness, creativity and versatility in performance. She is also inspired by integration: the coming together of separate fields such as academia, spiritual practice and art, as well as the confluence of seemingly unrelated crafts and practices.

HEMABHARATHY PALANI
Bangalore, India

Hemabharathy Palani is an award-winning dancer, movement artist and works as the rehearsal director of Attakkalari Repertory Company. She has trained in Kuchipudi, bharatanatyam, kalaripayattu, yoga and capoeira. She has participated in several national and international projects and represented India in choreography creations, residencies and performed in Attakkalari’s repertoire of multi-media dance productions across Europe. Recently Hema received the Public’s First Choice Award at the Finale of the 18th International Solo Tanz-Theatre Festival, Struttgart, Germany, for her performance Trikonanga. She is the first Indian to participate and win an award at the festival. She has also worked as an assistant choreographer for various South Indian films and television.