BEaPUMPKIN! Its Great! (2018)

A pumpkin is a pumpkin! It can be me and you, the dog, the tree, the bird which flies free! The beauty is that it’s a pumpkin and it doesn’t worry about being anyone else! Isn’t that great!

The show is Danza Performing Arts’ 9th Annual Summer Dance theatre production celebrating 10 years of fearless engagement with dance, theatre, music, meditation and yoga. It’s about just being who one really is without worrying about being anyone else! We rejoice in our flaws and boons, understanding that humor is essential in life and resistance is useless! The yearning to get out of mechanism opens the doors to knowledge which in turn commands free and wild imagination! Fairy tales are not just for kids and playfulness and creativity must not be abandoned ever! Most importantly if you are a pumpkin, just be it! Being a pumpkin is great!

While the performance is narrated by 75 year old poet, singer and an actor, it explores clowning, along with contemporary and jazz dance with kids, adults, amateurs and professionals all under one roof! Live music and performers interaction with the audiences adds a vibrant and immersive layer to the production as well.

Direction: Swati Mohan.
Production Mentor: Dilip Shankar.
Concept: Swati Mohan, Dilip Shankar.
Choreographers: Swati Mohan and Supriya Babbar.
Assistant Choreographer: Shohini Dasgupta.
Clowning Facilitator: Tapasya Dasgupta.
Interns: Deepak Bhatia, Rakesh.
Music Edit: Gaurav Singhh.
Lighting Design: Milind Srivastava.
Video Artist: Deepak Kattar.
Assistant Video Artist: Avi Arora.
Publicity Design: Shohini Dasgupta.
Styling Consultancy: अनाम.
Actor: Malti Sawhney.
Clowns and Dancers: Students of Danza Performing Arts.

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Mindspace, A Performance Research Project (2017)

This is the 10th year running of Danza performing arts and we have been able to manifest some really satisfying work in the past. 7 Annual Summer dance theater productions and innumerable number of classes, 100's of students passing through the studio space and lots of dancing, growth and fun. This year, our 8th summer creation, we are diving into a performance research project titled "Mindspace". The idea is to explore the mind by using dance and theater as practices, body and our creativity as tools while tapping into neuroscience facts is acting as our resource pool. Brain is a super complex system which is open (to influences from outside), chaotic and non – linear. Over digitization in our lives is affecting our attention span which on an average is 8 secs while gold fish’s is 9 secs according to a recent study. Most complicated subject we have attempted in choreographic process is Mirror neurons.

Direction: Swati Mohan.
Mentor: Dilip Shankar.
Concept: Swati Mohan, Dilip Shankar.
Assistant Director and Music Edit: Gaurav Singhh.
Choreographers & teachers: Supriya Babbar, Gaurav Singhh, Swati Mohan.
Neuroscience Consultant: Arpan Banerjee.
Space & Light Design and Musician: Sagnik Human.
Sound for Mirror Neurons and Singing: Sukanya Chattopadhyay.
Videography and Edit: Aparajita Burjwal.
Publicity Design: Abhigyan. Publicity Image: Shiladitya Laskar.
Styling Consultancy: अनाम.
Performers: Students of Danza Performing Arts.

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Jaagte Raho! The clown in us (2016)

The production is an exploration of the idea of "waking life". As performers, we are attempting to deal with aesthetic vs an-aesthetic way of living where aesthetic is defined as a state when all our senses are awake and alert to stimuli around us. The experience of being policed into sleep by conditioning of the society, the struggle of staying awake by sticking to our own choices and the tools which can help us stay off this anesthesia, have been many of the few ideas we have explored with jazz and contemporary dance, clowning, film and live music. Do come to share some creative expression with a cast of performers ranging from kids to adults, professionals to amateurs who share the passion for arts as a common interest.

Direction: Swati Mohan.
Production Mentor: Dilip Shankar.
Concept: Swati Mohan, Dilip Shankar, Gaurav Singhh.
Co-direction and Music Edit: Gaurav Singhh.
Choreographers: Supriya Babbar, Gaurav Singhh, Swati Mohan.
Clowning Facilitator and Guest Performer: Tapasya Dasgupta.
Lighting Design: Milind Srivastava.
Sound operator: Mukesh Choudhary.
Publicity Design: Apoorva Wadhwa.
Videography: Supriya Babbar, Gaurav Singhh, Swati Mohan.
Video Artist: Deepak Kattar.
Styling: अनाम.
Performers: Students of Danza Performing Arts.

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If I could... (2015)

"Question marks are very essential part of the journey. Now is the time for flunking the exam of reasoning. I just want to have a glass of water and know that water is there. It has been and it will always be"

This year's production is an attempt to connect with our experiences, our passion, our questions and our potential to find an artistic view on the journey of life. The poetry and dance that emerges is a result of surrendering to the process of "asking questions and finding answers" which otherwise is a vicious cycle. The students of Danza Performing Arts, starting from 5 yrs to 72 yrs with various levels (0 to 15 years) of dance training, will take you through this evening in which we have used dance, theatre, live music and film as tools to research the idea.

Direction and Choreography: Swati Mohan.
Production Mentor: Dilip Shankar.
Concept: Dilip Shankar, Gaurav Singhh, Swati Mohan.
Text: Original Poetry by Rumi, Yoko Ono and Swati Mohan.
Co-direction, Guest Choreographer and Music Edit: Gaurav Singhh.
Assistant Choreographer: Supriya Babbar.
Assistant Teacher: Anishaa Tavag.
Lighting Design: Milind Srivastava.
Production Design: Virkein Dhar.
Publicity Sketch: Sanjana Nayar.
Videography: Supriya Babbar, Anishaa Tavag and Jahnvi Sreedhar.
Video Artist: Deepak Kattar.
Styling: अनाम.
Actor: Malti Sawhney.
Music Artist: Anahita Dawar and Faiz Khan.
Dancers: Students of Danza Performing Arts.

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The Seven Selves (2014)

In the stillest hour of the night, as I lay half asleep, my seven selves sat together and thus conversed in whisper:” This year’s production is inspired by the poem “The seven selves” by Kahlil Gibran. We have played with movement, text, music, chairs, objects, film and poetry to find our creative expression. The students of Danza Performing Arts, starting from 5 yrs to 55 yrs and dance training ranging from 0 to 8 yrs and over, will perform with color, love and light. Do come to hear the whispered conversation.

Concept, Choreography and Direction: Swati Mohan
Mentor: Dilip Shankar
Guest Choreographer: Lalit Khatana
Assistant choreography and Teaching: Supriya Babbar and Jahnvi Sreedhar
Lighting Design: Milind Srivastava
Assistant Lighting designer: Jolly
Production Design: Virkein Dhar
Publicity Photography: Seema Dahiya
Voice Over: Zain Sikander Bhana and Swati Mohan
Music Edit: Gaurav Singhh. Styled by: अनाम
Make up artist: Anna. Music Band: Jamghat
Video Edit: Deepak Kattar
Videography: Kabir Shah

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A Sorted Confusion (2013)

There will be time, there will be time To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet; There will be a time to murder and create, And time for all the works and days of hands That lift and drop a question on your plate. -T. S. Eliot

The production attempts to investigate the conflict of quiet and chaos. The blessings of creativity and natural resources have always been there for humanity. Creativity has come to rescue us through inventions and discoveries since ages while water is the reason for life on this planet out of all the others. But do we allow ourselves enough space to explore without judgment? Can we do more than what we are doing. We have a question but don't have an answer. The only answer seems to be in the incredible fact that this confusion is "sorted" as life is still beautiful with universal energies working seamlessly together with whoever partners with it.

Concept input: Swati Mohan, Garima Shitoot, Rakesh MPS, Dilip Shankar
Direction and choreography: Swati Mohan
Guest Choreographer: Rakesh MPS
Guest Teacher: Dilip Shankar
Performed by: Students of Danza Performing Arts
Guest Performance: Urshilla Dance Company
Production design: Virkein Dhar
Video: Deepak Kattar
Lights: Govind Singh Yadav and Mita Mishra

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In Retrospect (2012)

Memory is the diary that we all carry about with us. - Oscar Wilde.

As people, we are filled with a not only a beautiful sense of nostalgia but also an ability to learn from our past. Sometimes past memories keep us grounded to our roots showing us how far we have come other times they bog us down and keep us from reaching our full potential. Nevertheless memories are a powerful part of us all. Every now and then we revisit this field of turning points, personal milestones and celebrate with love and joy. 'In retrospect" is an attempt by the students of Danza Performing Arts to experience their memories, slip and slide with the rhythm of it and use dance with theatre to express their journey.

Direction: Swati Mohan
Script: Archana Chaturvedi, Virkein Dhar and Swati Mohan
Choreography: Archana Chaturvedi, Rakesh MPS and Swati Mohan
Assistant choreographer: Shuchi Sablania
Light design: Prashashan S Maltiar
Photography: Sangeeta Banerjee
Video: Deepak Kattar
Production Design: Virkein Dhar
Performed by: Students of Danza Performing Arts

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Carpe Diem (2011)

Life doesnt give you second chances. Live each moment like it is your last. If fulfilling each dream was only this simple. We feel it is. Though at each step, we find barriers that present challenges which threaten to snatch the ground from under our feet. But wont we want to stand up and seize the moment...For nothing is impossible. Carpe diem! a dance production by Danza Performing Arts attempts to explore the miracle of possibility in our lives. Is that miracle YOU?

Directed and choreographed by Swati Mohan
Concept by Swati mohan, Garima Shitoot, Virkein Dhar, Jahanara Rabia Raza
Assistant choreographers by Virkein Dhar and Jahanara Rabia Raza
Set, costumes and production design by Virkein Dhar
Light design by Jaspreet Singh
Music Edit by M Ram Pradeep
Video by Deepak Khattar
Campaign photography by Samarth Mishra

Performed by Students of Danza Performing Arts

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Walk Once More (2010)

Walk Once More...is not a fairy tale, no. Its story of a miracle. A miracle that was unfolding long before we decided to conciously become part of the journey. A miracle that did not come easy to us. A miracle that surrounded us, yet we did not always recognise or value it. A miracle that once it became visible, has not ceased to amaze us...

Yes, Walk Once More...a musical dance theatre production, is about miracles...not just the miracle experienced by the chararcters in the story but all of us engaged in the experience of making it..we don't know how the story happened, how the idea developed, how we got the cast and the team, how i got saved from hitting a high speed fan while battling with limited resources. These are but a few expressions of the miraculous turn of events we have experienced. Yes, these 5 weeks have been nothing but a miracle!

Dance Director: Swati Mohan
Theatre Director: Smita Bharti
Script Writer: Smita Bharti & PriyaOm Jha
Story: Swati Mohan & Smita Bharti
Performed by: Students of Danza Performing Arts
Actors: Lakshmi Duttagupta, Ramesh Thakur, Rea Krishna, Pranav Brara
Lights: Jaspreet Uppal

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