Concept & Choreography: Malavika Sarukkai
Creative Collaborator: Sumantra Ghosal

The path-breaking dance production, Thari – The Loom is inspired by the sari, the unstitched garment from India. Choreographed by celebrated artist Malavika Sarukkai the production explores the artistic relationship of the dancer and the weaver to create a dynamic “dance cloth”. Woven into the production are specially written poems in English written by Creative Collaborator Sumantra Ghosal.

At the root of traditional disciplines lie essential collective concepts that transform the specific to the universal. Thari – The Loom explores the fundamental concepts that are shared between the two seemingly different but essentially connected disciplines of dance and weaving: space, structure, proportion, relationship, alignment, opposition, conjunction, symmetry and motif. Interestingly, both disciplines work through co-ordination, rhythm, measurement and design.

Thari – The Loom is a confluence of traditional practice informed by contemporary sensibilities which extends the language of classical dance from India. Excellence and imagination defines the entire process from concept to production and final presentation with a collaboration from many artists.