By Supriya Nayak
TORONTO: `Sunya (zero or nothing in Sanskrit) refers to the emptiness from which enlightenment is possible; the fundamental paradox of being, language and movement.’
This is the inspiration behind the performance of Sunya, which brings together movement, sound and visuals in a collaboration between Roger Sinha, one of Canada’s most important choreographers, and Kiya Tabassian, artistic director of the musical ensemble Constantinople. The production premiered at Montreal’s Place des Arts in 2013, earning praise for being both ‘sensual and spiritual’ (La Presse), and lauded as a ‘unique and highly successful collaboration’ (Bachtrak).
Highly regarded in their chosen fields, both Montreal-based artists are leading voices for diversity, pushing boundaries, and discovering contemporary expression through art.
Roger Sinha’s artistic journey has involved a continuous engagement with ideas of rootedness, culture and the universal human search for identity. In Sunya, the boundaries of these propositions are pushed as the artists strive to capture the essence of migration. The meeting of people and cultures grows into something positive. This artistic collaboration began with a meeting between Sinha and Tabassian that developed into what Sinha calls a ‘natural partnership’. The result is a unique and very original work that brings together an unusual combination of talents informed by Sinha’s Indo-Armenian heritage and Tabassian’s Persian roots, bound by the experience of adapting to the North American and Quebec cultures of their adopted homes and a shared contemporary outlook. The work explores the inter-connectedness of migration and transformation, as experienced at a deeply personal level by the artists.
For Roger Sinha, knowing who you are, is a vital tool for an artist to be able to find ever more powerful ways of expression. Sinha’s own art practice reveals the influence of multiple movement and dance styles such as jazz, ballet, Bharatanatyam and martial arts, and the process of developing a personal vocabulary of expression through these. The artists of Sunya are at a crossroads, deliberately erasing and redefining boundaries and using the past to shape the present. In such a space how do dance and music rooted in eastern traditions interact with modern technology and visuals on stage? What happens when technology is not simply a tool in the production but actually in relationship with the bodies on stage? Or when musicians relate with dancers in a physical way? The work is driven by interaction, which in a broader way is also the catalyst between migration and transformation.
This week-end, Sinha Dance and Constantinople bring their exciting ensemble of dancers and musicians to Toronto as part of the Harbourfront Centre’s NextSteps. This is the culmination of a three-city Canadian tour that also saw stops in Nanaimo and Vancouver.
Sunya runs at the Harbourfront Centre’s Fleck Dance Theatre from November 19-21 (8 pm), with a post-performance Q+A with the creators and ensemble on Friday, November 20. For tickets, call the Harbourfront Centre Box Office at 416-973-4000 or visit harbourfrontcentre.com.
Two additional events feature in Roger Sinha’s Toronto stop: a lecture-demonstration on Wednesday, November 18 (7.30 pm) and a workshop for dancers of all levels and backgrounds on Saturday, November 21 (11am-1pm). Both events are presented by Janak Khendry Dance Company’s ‘Creation and Communication’ series. For information and tickets email dance@jkdanceco.org.
