Music, dance, poetry and art are but different dialects in the language of self expression. These dialects were in conversation and responded to three poems that speak about women’s lives, about choices that she needs to make, about aloneness and belonging, desire and passion, compromise, loss and solidarity.

Music, dance, poetry and art conversed, they reacted, responded and spoke to each other to create a confluence of shared experience that strove to fulfill a desire for communality and fraternity on the 29th and 31st January 2015 at the Integral Space (Lower Parel) and Somaiya Centre for Lifelong Learning (Fort, Mumbai).

Three poems by Anjali Purohit formed the starting point of this conversation – All Said and Done, The Secret and A Prelude to Passion.

These poems were translated into Italian by Nuria Sala Grau and read by her at the Integral Space and by Clara at The Somaiya Centre.

Noted musician and senior exponent of the Gwaloir Gharana, Neela Bhagwat responded through her bandishes in Hindi…Kehena tha who keh diya… , Halki si kehen, Kahan Akelapan and Bhor Bhayi Keheti Maina… .

Italian musician Patrizia Mattioli composed electronic tracks for the three poems respectively.

The Italian dancer Nuria Sala Grau spoke through contemporary dance as she danced to the tracks composed by Patrizia as also to the Hindustani classical bandish compositions sung by Neela Bhagwat.

She also conversed with the three paintings – Time and Tide, Sisters and A Prelude to Passion painted by Anjali Purohit.

The warp and weft of this conversation, then, was formed by these strands –

THREE POEMS IN ENGLISH….. Anjali Purohit
Translation into Italian………………Nuria Sala Grau

CLASSICAL BANDISH in the Tradition of the Gwalior Gharana: Neela Bhagwat
and Amarendra Dhaneshwar

CONTEMPORARY DANCE………Nuria Sala Grau

COMPOSITIONS IN ELECTRONIC MUSIC……by Patrizia Mattioli

ART……………………………………….Anjali Purohit

About the artists –

Anjali Purohit is an artist and a writer based in Mumbai. She writes fiction and poetry and has been published in literary journals online and in print. Her book, Ragi Ragini, was published by Yoda Press in 2012. She has been exhibiting her paintings since 1995 and is especially interested in collaborative projects that bring together different arts to hold a dialogue on a shared issue.

Neela Bhagwat is a senior Hindustani Classical musician of the Gwalior Gharana. She has been performing extensively in India as well as in Europe and America both in traditional classical genre as well as modern experimental music. She has composed many Bandishes with a new feminist content and also composed for the verses of poet saints.

Amarendra Dhaneshwar is a Hindustani classical singer belonging to the Gwalior gharana. A pupil of the renowned singer Neela Bhagwat, he is also a contributor to leading English and Marathi newspapers. He has performed all over India and abroad and has contributed entries on Hindustani music to the Encyclopedia of India compiled by the American scholar Stanley Wolpert.

Nuria Sala Grau is Spanish dancer and choreographer based in Milan (Italy), and has been performing professionally since 1989. She has studied classical ballet and Contemporary Art as well as Bharatnatyam. Her work focuses on dialogue and the integration of different cultures and languages as a way of living the dance. She has performed in European and international theaters.

Patrizia Mattioli is a musician and composer based in Parma, Italy. She has studied music at IRCAM and specializes in electronic music. She has won international competitions of electro acustic music and has been involved in various artistic pursuits – theater, dance, visual and sound arts, dj, puppets music and live electronics. She has participated in several festivals, projects and biennials across Europe.