All set for an international premiere in Tel Aviv, contemporary dance star Ashley Lobo’s new production will see its premiere in Mumbai
A moment from the rehearsal of Agni
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Ashley Lobo has made waves across the world with Navdhara Dance Theatre (NIDT), a contemporary dance repertory company that he started two years ago. The group that specialises in contemporary international dance will now travel with their new show for an international premiere at Tel Aviv. Before this, the dance theatre show Agni will have an India premiere this month at NCPA.
The first world premiere will be in Tel Aviv
Lobo explains that Western dance can be divided into the Classical and Contemporary forms and in all contemporary forms ballet is broken down to freestyle movements. “In India, there was no opportunity to train in international dance before Navadhara. But then when we performed our previous dance theatre work, Amaara, the audience here was receptive and we have got standing ovations wherever we have performed,” he says.
The new work, Agni, was commissioned by the Suzanne Dellal Centre in Tel Aviv, which Lobo calls a significant international centre of dance, after a previous performance. It took them nearly three months since their return from Israel to perfect this production. Lobo says that the thought behind the performance and movement in the show is Western but the philosophy is Indian. He says Indian culture and sensitivity is different from the west “Agni is the Vedic God of Fire and fire ignites passion. It is a symbol of light and darkness, destruction and purification, beginnings and endings. Passion changes through purification and destruction. In this work, the dancers take the audience on a journey of Agni as they seek the end,” he concludes.
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