If these walls could speak

Dancer-choreographer Hrishikesh Pawar says that the dance-theatre performance, Four Walls in Parel, is an exploration of a couple's emotional journey after losing their only child, as witnessed by the mute walls of their home

Dancer-choreographer Hrishikesh Pawar found the inspiration for the dance-theatre performance, Four Walls of Parel, while shooting for a documentary film in an old Parsi house. "I realised the importance the home plays in an individual's life. I started thinking about all that goes on inside, and what the walls were likely to have witnessed," he says.


A still of Four walls of Parel

Four Walls of Parel is a bilingual performance about the strained relationship between a husband and wife, who have lost their child. The performance takes the audience through the tension, grief and frustration that the couple experiences post their loss.

After studying contemporary dance in Germany for two years, Hrishikesh, who has also trained in Kathak, travelled to several countries, returning to India to set up a dance school in his hometown, Pune. Having learnt Kathak since the age of nine, he fuses classical moves with contemporary dance in his performances.

"Typically, only mythological stories are told through classical dance forms. I wanted to go beyond that by telling stories of our everyday lives. Through dance theatre, I try to create a new vocabulary of moves," he elaborates.

"Dance theatre gives one a wider understanding of all that the body can do," says Hrishikesh, who has staged dance-theatre performances in the country since 2007. To work as an effective story-telling device, dancers mouth dialogues and also sing, if need be, with themes ranging from loneliness and relationships to 'pure dance'.

Hrishikesh hopes to travel with the performance to different cities, but is apprehensive about the audience's reaction. "It's sad that not too many people take to this format in India," he signs off.

On Today, 6.45 pm At Alliance Francaise de Mumbai, Theosophy Hall, 40 New Marine Lines.
Call 22035993/ 22036187