"Hu - Voicing our Selves" A Workshop facilitated by Arka Mukhopadhyay & Saqlain Nizami at A-105, Defence Colony > 9th-13th March 2011 (Register till 3rd March 2011)

Time : 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Entry : For registrations, please contact Prerna at 9871772423 or Yulia on 9811155388, or mail arka.mukhopadhyay@gmail.com, by the 3rd of March.
The workshop is offered under the gift-economy principle. A contribution of 2,000/- is suggested in order to meet expenses and to make it possible for the work to continue and reach people regardless of their ability to pay. Participants who are able to pay more than this are welcome.

Place : A 105, Defence Colony, New Delhi
Venue Info : Map | Nearest Metro Station - 'Lajpat Nagar'
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Workshop Details : "...where ritual and artistic creation were seamless. Where poetry was song, song was incantation, movement was dance." - J. Grotowski.
A Workshop facilitated by Arka Mukhopadhyay and Saqlain Nizami
"Hu" means 'to be'. But to be what? This workshop is an attempt to ask that question by engaging with our many bodies - physical, social, erotic, ecological, theatrical and spiritual.
The workshop is built around the fundamentals of breath, sound and rhythm. It also makes use of text, theatrical expression, performance, self-work, ritual and group discussions. Some aspects of the workshop utilize structured learning and precise, do-able acts, while other aspects are intentionally unstructured. Greater awareness of one's breath, voice, and body may and should result from the workshop, but the purpose of the workshop is not to teach communication or presentation skills in their functional sense, nor to train participants to be theatrical performers. Work on breath, voice and body are used as take-off points for engagements with the Self.
At the heart of the workshop lies an immersion in Sufi Qawwali, as practised and transmitted by the hereditary Qawwals of the Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah in Delhi. This immersion in Qawwali, and physical movements associated with it, are intended to take us to a heightened state of awareness, where we might engage with notions of tradition, change, Self and identity in their personal, spiritual, ecological and socio-political dimensions, to essentially be able to ask the question, 'who owns my body?'. In response to this question, though not in an attempt to find an answer, we will travel through the territories of freedom, choice, responsibility, tolerance and diversity, through movement, meditation, breath, sound, body-work, theatre and cultural exchanges, taking a detour through a country called Rabindranath Tagore.
A video from the last edition of this workshop, courtesy Aditya Pathak, one of the particpants : www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cYzvPKJ3AI

About the facilitators : Arka Mukhopadhyay is a writer, performancemaker and educator. Saqlain Nizami is a hereditary Qawwal.

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