Doha

MetLiveArts - Residency (2022)

Doha was the fifth and final work created as part of the MetLiveArts 2021-2022 Artist in Residence program.

Doha, or couplet, is the culmination of Bijayini Satpathy’s year-long residency at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Building on a series of movement explorations at The Met Cloisters, the Modern and Contemporary Art wing, the Islamic Art wing and the Astor Chinese Garden Court, this evening-length work navigates the relationship between prayer and play.

The idea of prayer is central to the Odissi dance form and much of the traditional repertoire addresses or praises a deity. In her choreography, however, Bijayini abandons theistic depictions to emphasize the bhava – the emotional experience – of prayer as an embodied human act. Through intricately patterned choreography, she constructs her own solitary rituals, oscillating between precision and spontaneity. Within the strictures of ritualized prayer, she embraces play and playfulness as an essential part of the individual’s search for the divine.

Bijayini’s long-standing interest in expanding Odissi’s physical vocabulary finds new direction in this work, which looks beyond gestural ornamentation. Here, Bijayini hones in on the skeletal nuances of Odissi’s lexicon to find abundance and sensuality within a more austere palette. She also moves away from textual narrative and performs only one couplet of poetry, written by the 18th-century Urdu poet Mir Taqi Mir. The lines address neither god nor beloved. Instead, they talk about slowing down even the smallest breath to appreciate the fragility of the universe.

لے سانس بھی آہستہ کہ نازک ہے بہت کام

آفاق کی اس کارگہ شیشہ گری کا

"If you breathe, breathe softly:
The mirror work of the cosmos is delicate." (trans. Nandini Majumdar)

MUSIC CREDITS

Bindhumalini Narayanaswamy - Voice
Bijayini Satpathy - Rhythmic voice
Shivshankar Satpathy - Mardala
Sameer Rao - Flute
Neil Mukherjee - Oudh and Classical guitar
Rithu Vysak - Strings
M.S. Krsna - Classical guitar, Production and Arrangement
Sridhar Varadarajan and Krishna - Editing and Premixing
Protyay Chakraborty - Mixing and Mastering
Recorded at Studio 304 and Laya Digi Studios, Bangalore.

CREDITS

Bijayini Satpathy - Choreography and Performance
Bindhumalini Narayanaswamy - Music composition
Sujay Saple - Lights and Design
Poorna Swami - Dramaturgy
Irene Dowd - Anatomy research guidance
Brigitte Singh - Costume advice
Claudia Norman - Management and Production
Elaine Lipcan - Tour strategy
Masoom Parmar - India coordination and Costume production assistance
Accommodations for Satpathy were graciously provided by Tracy Strauss.

This presentation sincerely acknowledges and marks my gratitude to the Mahari temple dancers and young Gotipua dancers of Odisha, whose contributions have made Odissi as loved and rich as it is today.

Doha

MetLiveArts - Residency (2022)

THE PRAYER