WANDERING WOMEN | by Nidya Shanthini Manokara and Nora Samosir

Theatre practitioner Nora Samosir and dance practitioner Nidya Shanthini Manokara come together to envision a conversation between Mary Magdalene and Draupadi.

Using both Western conventions of acting and Indian classical dance form of Bharata Natyam, in this work, the duo seeks out novel ways to weave together spoken text and movement. They draw on existing texts – ranging from The New Testament to Jesus Christ Superstar, and from Mahabharata to speeches by Mahatma Gandhi – to guide their understanding on the admirable women. They also rely on ethnographic fieldwork to shape the text investigations, movement explorations and work-in-progress performance.

To ensure that there is a common methodology between the fields of dance and theatre, Nora and Shanthini will engage in the following processes to investigate text and movement in depth.

1. TEXTUAL ANALYSIS:

• Focus on two canonical texts – The New Testament and Mahabharata – to investigate the roles played by Mary Magdalene and Draupadi
• Explicate their contemporary literary resonances through modern writings including poetry and prose

2. MOVEMENT MATERIAL:

• Site Fieldwork to obtain visceral experiences and kinesthetic material for movement exploration
• Magdala, Israel – the birthplace of Mary Magdalene and site of an ancient synagogue from the time of Jesus Christ– and
• Kurukshetra, India – the site of the Mahabharata war that had been triggered by Draupadi
• Observers during Sunday service and Firewalking Ceremony

Due to the close links between the traditional art forms (of theatre and dance) and the places in which they had developed, such an ethnographic approach is important for Nora and Shanthini as art researchers. Moving through the architecture of the sites and spaces will provide rich kinesthetic material that can then be worked into the movement exploration. It will also sharpen the performance of the chosen texts. As part of their research, Nora and Shanthini will embark on a field trip to India and Israel from 28 May – 16 June 2018.

They will be sharing their research and development processes through the following talks and demonstration sessions:

• 23 June 2018, 3pm at library@esplanade:
  The processes of bringing back memories of a space through (1) embodied movements and (2) film footage.
• 8 December 2018, 2pm at Woodlands Library
  15 December 2018, 2pm at library@esplanade
  Lecture-performance showcasing some excerpts from the performance piece.

The work was originally titled Praying Women and has since been changed to Wandering Women. 

Artists – Nidya Shanthini Manokara
Nidya Shanthini Manokara (PhD NUS) is a dance researcher-practitioner who is classically trained in bharata natyam. Her practice and research interests include evolving Asian performance practices and their affective registers. Shanthini is currently the Resident Dramaturg with RAW Moves.

Artists – Nora Samosir
Nora Samosir has more than 30 years of professional theatre experience in more than 90 stage productions. She has also appeared on television and in films. Nora has a Postgraduate Diploma in Voice Studies from the Central School of Speech and Drama, London and an MA in Theatre Studies from NUS.