Dream Baby Dream: The dance production that challenges hustle culture

Dream Baby Dream by Flux School of Dance is a thought-provoking dance theatre production exploring the delicate balance between rest and ambition. Inspired by the themes of dreams, sleep and insomnia, it challenges hustle culture, encouraging audiences to embrace rest as essential for creativity, wellbeing and living a fuller, richer life. We get chatty with Sahiba Singh, founder of Flux School of Dance to talk about the production, her creative process and lots more…

What was the idea behind the production?

The piece began with the idea of sleep and dreams and what they might be trying to tell us. This developed into exploring insomnia, a growing issue due to distractions like phones and the pressure of hustle culture. The production challenges the notion that exhaustion equals ambition or that rest is a waste of time. Instead, it encourages people to rest and dream well, leading to better productivity and well-being.

How do you define ‘the unknown’ in the context of this performance?

Here, ‘the unknown’ reflects the abstract nature of dance. While there’s a storyline, the work is open to interpretation. Scenes, such as performers falling into each other’s laps, invite audiences to form their own meaning rather than follow a strictly literal narrative.

How did you approach structuring the production and what was your creative process like?

The one-hour piece blends dance, music and theatre, with roughly equal time for each. The script came first, guiding the movement and choreography. Nothing was improvised — the steps were detailed and learned. Inspired by Pina Bausch’s dance theatre, it features acting by trained dancers rather than physical theatre’s actor led movement. The cast comprises graduates of Flux School of Dance’s contemporary course.

How did music influence the production?

Music shapes the mood and integrates with the movement. For dance sections, superheroesque and intergalactic tracks were selected by my friend using royalty-free sources. It is played live, supporting but not over powering the theatrical scenes and fully blending with movement sequences.

INR 499. August 15, 7.30 pm. At BIC, Domlur.

Email: alwin@newindianexpress.com

X: @al_ben_so

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