As part of our collaboration with Vancouver Celebrates Diwali, New Works chatted with Bageshree Vaze about her dance background and her upcoming Dance Allsorts performance on October 16, 2011.
 
When/Where did you start dancing?
I grew up in St. John's, NL, and when I was five years old started off with ballet classes. The local Hindu Temple got a grant from the government (as part of the Multicultural policy) to host an Indian dance teacher for a few weeks in spring and summer, and one evening when I was seven years old, I was whisked off to the temple in a carpool to take Indian dance classes (Bharatha Natyam). I had never seen Indian dance before, but my mother had learned some when she was younger, and there was already a music culture in my family, as my father learned North Indian classical singing from his father.
 
Why do you keep dancing? Why is dance important to you?
The easy answer is: dancers are insane, myself included! Seriously, right from the beginning, dance was such a natural activity for me, and it became impossible to not have it in my everyday life. Dance chooses you, you don't choose it. The interaction of movement, melody and rhythm in the Indian tradition fascinates me, and it is a lifelong quest to discover the mystery of dance and the human body.
 
What is going on in dance right now that is exciting to you?
With the Internet (something I never grew up with), what is happening in dance around the world has become accessible to everyone. It is a great tool to see exciting collaborations, cross-cultural experiments, and opening of dance languages to reflect different bodies and ideas. Art reflects the society we live in, and I think we will see Canadian dance change a lot over the next decade or so with our changing demographics. What I find most exciting is how cultures are clashing (in a good way) to create new expressions through dance, music and all facets of life.
 
Could you tell me a little bit more about the show you will be doing at Dance Allsorts?
'Avatar (9)' is a contemporary Kathak dance piece which premiered in Toronto in May 2011. I'm very excited to remount it in Vancouver, as it is the first full-length work I have created which brings together a number of ideas I have developed over the past decade—I have composed and sung the music, and created a piece which explores the nine emotions (Navarasas) of Indian dance as different characters, or incarnations. It is contemporary in that it uses Kathak vocabulary and repertoire, but presents them in a new way. I worked closely with Butoh specialist Denise Fujiwara in approaching the work from that perspective, rather than limiting myself to my Indian dance training.
 
What is your favourite thing about performing?
Performing is a spiritual experience. In Indian dance, the stage is a temple or a sacred space, and performance is an offering. I love sharing my ideas with audiences, and connecting with people. It is one thing to create and practice on your own, but when you perform your work for others, it pushes you to a whole other level of enlightenment, and can be most gratifying. I hope each moment of performance touches someone, regardless of who they are.
 
Who are some of your important artistic influences?
My teachers have all been influences in my life, but most importantly my father and mother have helped me develop my own vision of art. I grew up in a household where Indian culture was not imposed on me, and my father had a great appreciation for Western classical music. Perhaps because I lived in an isolated place, I was intrigued by the outside world, and developed a world perspective. In Kathak dance, I have been heavily inspired by the living legend, Pt. Birju Maharaj, and in the world of contemporary dance, Akram Khan.