Mall - Near NIRMAN VIHAR METRO STATION
Basic partner mirror work - slow - changing partners
Performers: Manju, Ranjan, Riya, Swaraj, Nishta, Reetu
Documenter and observer: Shena
Audience No.: roughly 20+
who let the dogs out, who who?lets do the doggie do do do!
how will we do it if the floor is dirty
how will we do it if the floor is wet
were we dancing or
simply meditating with our eyes wide open making a contact with my mirror
mirror mirror how many people were watching me
mirror mirror how many people were copying me
mirror mirror how many security guards were there
we want to do it again, but where where where?!
(Manju)
We managed roughly fifteen minutes before security asked us (politely) to stop, at which point we bowed to our scattered audience. There was the man who asked if it was meditation, and the shopkeeper who did a slow motion dance outside his shop once we were done, the young woman who came up and expressed how much she had enjoyed watching - and the phone-camera wielding few amongst the crowd of onlookers.
Since this was a first-time Do for all the performers, what struck us was how connected we were - to each other and to ourselves - amidst the hustle and bustle of the crowded yet impersonal mall space. For some of us, the audience almost melted away - even though we were fully aware that there were people gathering around to watch. It seems that the very act of performing in a public space, unexpectedly (a few of us were a little nervous before beginning) - opens up spaces within us as performers that we don't get to experience in conventional settings. So, besides the lofty ideal of sharing with our brethren, there's also tucked away in all this a deliciously selfish likelihood- to stretch ourselves as artists, and to experience something new.
