Kolkata's culturescape has a piece of good news during these gloomy times. Creative dance group Sapphire has just stepped into its 28th year and to celebrate this special occasion they have a line-up of great live performances for connoisseurs of modern contemporary dance.
Starting tomorrow, Sapphire is all set to introduce a special monthly dance series celebrating the 28th birthday in August with physical performance of four new works titled DANCE VIVID, Dancing Vividly in COVID Times which will be streamed live from Topcat CCU. The first of the series will be live-streamed on August 9 at 7 pm.
Also, they are coming up with their new website sapphirecreations.org besides a new YouTube channel, TV sapphire where all their shows will be available for view. They also did a special photoshoot with renowned city photographer Kasturi Mukherjee and fashion designer Abhishek Dutta to create a connect with the streets and heritage buildings of Kolkata with their contemporary dance integrating the common people and inspiring them to find the rhythm of the dance in the rhythm of their own life.
"We shot on the narrow lanes of north Kolkata, in front of GPO and inside the Currency Building. These photographs shot mainly for our new website recontextualise in this time of the pandemic the light of hope that is within to regain our freedom and own the streets of Kolkata," tells Sudarshan Chakravorty, artistic director, Sapphire Creations.
He further says, "Circumstances have changed but dance hasn't. We have danced on stage, danced on the streets, danced in cafes, bookstores, galleries, boardrooms. Now we will dance online. You will view us in a box. But in your mind's imagination, our energy and spirit will create a world of movement, beauty, creativity and meaning for you. We will pervade borders with dance be it physical or digital. Vivid is vivacious, alive and pulsating. This is the new now".
The four new productions are Deja Vu performed by Sylvester Mardi and Pintu Das, Catastrophe by Bijoy Sharma, Avishek Mitra, Pendulum by Ankita Duttagupta, Koushik Das and Losing Touch Gaining Time by Paramita Saha.