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Strings Unattached
 The Duchess Club, a premier woman-empowered team with over 300 members, will present an evening of Contemporary dance-theatre 'Strings Unattached', stories woven through the threads of ancient texts and contemporary voices performed by Thresh, a young, internationally acclaimed dancetheatre group. Thresh comprises young independent artists, designers and choreographers who are recognized for their rich contribution to the Contemporary dance. The contemporary dance theatre performance would take place at Museum Theatre on 2nd March, 2004.
The Thresh Dance Company, a US-based contemporary dance troupe, is on its maiden tour of India, said Chennai-born Preeti Vasudevan, now settled in New York. Chennai, Pondicherry, Neemrana, Hyderabad, Bangalore, New Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad are the chosen place for the performance in Tour of India 2004. Thresh would perform in Chennai on March 2nd and in Hydrabad and Calcutta on March 5th and 9th respectively.
'Strings Unattached' is a series of three contemporary pieces that have the stringed instrument as the main musical accompaniment, Preeti said. Each piece has been primarily influenced by texts of both ancient and modem and together they use the stringed instrument as their primary voice. The three pieces hold themselves quite independent of each other in their contexts, she added. However, the commonality of the musical instruments as strings holds them as an evening's ensemble work.
 About Preethi Vasudevan, Artistic Director, Thresh.
Chennai-bom Preeti Vasudevan fell in love with the jingling sound of anklets at an early age. Preeti is a professional classical dancer from India trained in the dance form of
Bharatanatyam. She has extensively traveled around the world performing traditional repertoires from her ancient dance form. She has also incorporated her traditional techniques to conduct workshops, lecture demonstrations and seminars in educational
institutions to emphasize art as an important factor in children's education. She is the recipient of various awards and has a few choreographies to her credit. Preeti conducts educational tours to various schools around the country to help educate children in the Indian culture and art forms.
 Her creative curiosity led her to London, Japan, and America, where she picked up nuances of jazz, ballet, Nihon Buyo (the Japanese classical form), and Graham and Cunningham styles, besides training in Suzuki, yoga, and Linklater techniques.
Nina Reddy, one of the founders of the The Duchess Club, said the club launched on January 28 2002, consists of 300 members from all walks of life who come together with the common goal of learning and sharing. The Duchess club is empowered by a team of five women, namely Nina Reddy (Director Savera Hotels), Rathi Nilakantan (Director, A Cut Above Beauty Studio), Anu Agarwal (Tanjore Artist), Sujatha Mundhra (Dress designer) and Anuradha Sachdev (Business Woman). The Duchess Club has a motley crew of women aboard -- homemakers, teachers, managers and performing artists. Most members are in the age group of 25 to 50.
The first piece of the programme is titled 'What I See/What I Get'. Solo dancer and violin investigate the rules of classical Indian dance, Bharatnatyam, by using the game of dice as a metaphor for the unpredictable nature of dancing. Duration -- 15 minutes.
Piece two -- Past/Present -- in inspired by a 17th century love poem from South India, a courtesan is confronted by her inner self, her passion for true love and her role in society. Duration -- 15 minutes.
The third piece is called 'NN ...Rememory...Reality'. The violin and cello form a dialogue between three dancers, exploring relationships between the visible and the invisble. Inspired by Japanese death poems and Jane Shepard's play, The Last Nickel, NN explores the realm of the 'living dead'. Duration -- 22 minutes.
RR
Published on 2nd Mar, 2004
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