Paratopias
Saturday, June 6 | 8:00 PM
River Run Centre, Studio Theatre
35 Woolwich St
Tickets: $30 or $20
About the Work
‘Paratopia’ means an alternate reality. Paratopias combines Kathak and Tabla rhythmic language, Bharatha Natyam aesthetics, original music by Bageshree Vaze and Vineet Vyas and video narrative to pay homage to the St. John’s Hindu Temple in which Bageshree Vaze first discovered Indian dance. The Temple was and continues to be a space of gathering and inspiration to empower the Indo-Canadian community to help navigate what it means to be Canadian. Choreographed and performed by Bageshree Vaze alongside a team of stellar music and dance artists, Paratopias is a counter-vision to the commonly accepted and perpetuated white, Eurocentric narrative of Newfoundland’s cultural and dance history. In a world where wars continue to rage over land, nationality, religion and identity, Paratopias celebrates the inspiring possibilities of an inclusive and diverse world. This work has been commissioned by Neighbourhood Dance Works and Guelph Dance.
Choreographer
Bageshree Vaze
Performers
Bageshree Vaze, Vineet Vyas, Bill Brennan, Varun Vyas, Daniel Gomez, Sebastian Hirtenstein, Raghav Monga and Gouri Kundu
Music
Bageshree Vaze, Vineet Vyas
Lighting Design
Emerson Kafarowski
Dramaturgy
Anand Rajaram
Artwork/Visual Animation
Mathew Jacob
About the Choreographer
Born in Pune, India but raised in St. John’s, NL, Bageshree Vaze is an Indo-Canadian dance artist, musician and writer. Bageshree initially trained in Bharatha Natyam at the St. John’s Hindu Temple, and studied vocal music with her father, Damodar Vaze. She later trained in India on scholarships with some of the foremost masters of Indian classical dance and music – Bageshree studied Kathak dance with Jai Kishan Maharaj in New Delhi, and studied vocal music with the renowned Veena Sahasrabuddhe. As a vocalist and composer, Bageshree has 6 CDs to her credit, including Tarana, an album of music for Indian dance, which was released in India by Times Music under the name Khanak. In 2004 Bageshree was named an MTV India ‘rising star’ and in 2010 she was awarded the K.M. Hunter Award in Dance. Bageshree has a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Carleton University and a Master’s in Dance from York University. In 2022 Bageshree was named Dance Collection Danse’s inaugural Artist Researcher-in-Residence. Bageshree is the 2022 co-recipient of the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Original Sound Composition in the Dance Division. www.bageshree.com
About the Company
Pratibha Arts is an organization dedicated to enhancing the arts landscape of Ontario and Canada to reflect its cultural diversity, presenting in particular dance and music forms originating from South Asia. Since 2011, it has produced numerous dance works and audio recordings for dance, and has been commissioned by presenters such as DanceWorks, the CanAsian Dance Festival, Dusk Dances and the Aga Khan Museum. Pratibha Arts engages a high-calibre roster of emerging and established dance and music artists, and has offered advanced level training for emerging dance artists and professional development through its ‘Sadhana’ program. In 2022 the company garnered 5 Dora Mavor Moore Award nominations for its production ‘Sadhana/Tarana’ and won the Award for Outstanding Original Sound Composition in the Dance Division by Bageshree Vaze and Vineet Vyas. www.pratibhaarts.com
Acknowledgements + Special Thanks
Paratopias has been produced by Pratibha Arts, with commissioning support from Neighbourhood Dance Works and Guelph Dance Festival.
This production has been made possible with the generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Metcalf Foundation’s Booster Fund, the Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council and The Railpath Arts Centre.
Thanks to the incredible team of artists in this production for their talent, inspiration and tireless spirit to help bring this story to life, my family both in St. John’s and Toronto, Dance Collection Danse and Amy Bowring for their support towards the research of this work, Julia Carr and the NDW team, and Leslie Fisher and Guelph Dance.
Paratopias is dedicated to the Elders who established the St. John’s Hindu Temple.
Photo by Kylie Thompson