Digging Deeper: Cleansing, Resistance, Heart, Reclaiming, Joy

Associate Artist and Choreographer, Neena Jayarajan, writes about her experience choreographing for Offerings at Ishpadinaa:

Over a year ago, Artistic Director Nova Bhattacharya invited me to be the choreographer for a series of activations at the  Spadina Museum.  I was incredibly excited and my head was spinning with all the possibilities of what the work would be and its potential impact. 

 I began toying with ideas of retelling the stories of those who worked in the house, along with the overarching proposal to create an offering that would animate the historic site with Nova Dance’s diversiform aesthetic.  Through a community consultation with respected artists in the city, we knew that it was important to recognize the resiliency of those who worked on the land and celebrate the reclaiming of this space today. 

At the centre of the work, is the Nova Dance namaskaram.  Heart, Sound, Circle, Reach, Mother Earth, Forgiveness, Universe, Ancestors, Humanity.   How can we activate a site of a colonial residence with our bodies in a meaningful way.  Our response is to make an offering to the land through art, music and dance. 

Intentions were given to the dancers of Cleansing, Resistance, Heart, Reclaiming and Joy.  Keeping the namaskaram as the spine, the dancers created their own interpretations to these ideas and concepts as I facilitated the structure and emotions. 

Creating with Thrasher, Dhaivat Jani, Candace Kumar and Ravyn Wngz opened a portal to new discoveries.  Being supported by Dramaturg Dainty Smith and Public Space Research Intern, Mushtari Afroz stretched my mind.  We got to know each other quickly through sharing our art.  I have compared us all to an element of nature.  Candace/water, Rayvn/Fire, Thrasher/earth, Dhaivat/air, Dainty/light, Mushtari/rain and myself the ether or space carrying them all in my atmosphere.  The joy of working with live music, and collaborators who each add parts of themselves to the work has been deeply humbling and has proven that although all the artists come from different dance styles and backgrounds, we were unified in our shared intentions for the work. 

I am excited for audiences to see this labour of love, that was created with a lot of heart and even more joy.  In a space where we were once not wanted, we are taking space and offering ourselves through dance.