Fleur Antoine-Hindermeyer worries about today’s younger generation, calling them “passive spectators” in the world of performance arts.
Through the formation of the Here & Now Collective — a group of 11 collaborators from seven countries comprising singers, dancers, musicians and actors based in the UAE, India and Europe — the French choreographer has created the #Meditate dance theatre experience that will be staged in Dubai on April 26.
Ahead of this visual-sensory performance, Antoine-Hindermeyer tells Gulf News tabloid! why it was imperative to marry the mediums of dance, theatre, multimedia and Instagram to make this happen.
How would you best describe the #Meditate dance theatre experience?
[It’s] a pure living arts experience, blending dance — both traditional and contemporary — along with energetic movements from martial arts and Sufi tradition, live music and live singing, integrated with present day context and technology via multimedia interaction and live Instagram posting. Like a 2.0 format for a millenary practice of living arts and meditation.
You want to lead your audience through ‘an inner journey’ through #Meditate. What does this imply?
#Meditate is both an inner and a geographical journey through various living arts and meditative traditions from around the world. Artists on stage (both dancers and musicians) are going on an inner journey by deepening their presence through performance. The aim of the narrative and art direction of the show is to take the audience along on the artists’ inner journey so they can feel the inner energy.
Through #Meditate, I want the audience to live this experience and create an indelible mark in their emotional memory.
In a way, you are creating self-awareness through your art. Why is this so important?
The need for self-awareness is important for every human being, in particular the younger generation who are passive spectators of recorded music and video.
Most youngsters hardly attend live shows. Except for those engaged in sports, more and more youngsters are becoming pure ‘brains/minds’, always connected to content for their ears and eyes, but losing out on exploring the capacity of the body. Post-modern societies are losing out on body sense and movement. We move less, walk less and this makes us less self-aware.
In #Meditate, what are the difference dance forms that will come alive on stage?
Firstly Kathak, one of eight Indian classical dance forms, referred to by yogis as a sort of active meditation. I was introduced to Kathak as a spectator in France, watching shows of Akram Khan [renowned British artist and dancer]. And I met Indian music thanks to my husband who had lived in India in his twenties.
When I moved to the UAE, I looked for a Kathak master to train in the form and met Pali Chandra, the artistic director of Gurukul Dubai and Sneha Masurkar.
In #Meditate, Sneha embodies Kathak, Raquel Reina embodies the elegance of Flamenco. With Nirina Ralantoartisimba we propose contemporary dance phrases. I also bring in patterns and inspiration form Butoh [Japanese contemporary dance-theatre] and Sufi active meditation.
What gave you the idea to blend dance forms with elements of the martial arts?
Since I was very young, I have always asked myself this question: Why do people who move with their body everyday seem happier than others? I observed this everywhere.
I discovered martial arts during this search. I first lived Qi Gong as a pre-practice of still meditation. Then I started choreographing sequences of active and still meditation [martial arts is an active form of meditation]. And then gradually, the martial arts merged with my dance vocabulary of Flamenco and Kathak.
It is interesting how #Meditate employs different visual mediums as a way of expression. How does each element add to the show’s overall narrative?
Since 15 years, I have recorded sounds during my travels and meditation seminars. As a spectator, I have loved videos included in live art shows. During my creative process, I use self-video graphing as a way to give myself feedback on the movements.
As a contemporary art curator for the last 13 years, I have been attracted to video installations and land art performances. And thanks to my son and to Sneha, I discovered Instagram three years ago.
All of these mediums and inspirations come together to flesh out the narrative and give #Meditate a poetic dimension.
Can you tell us a little more about the Here & Now Collective that lay the foundation for #Meditate?
#Meditate has taken me four years of research. I initially planned it as a book of experiences and experiments. In parallel, I was writing and choreographing my first full length show on the theme of coming back to your amazing bodies through the gift of dance and music.
With this in my head, in June 2017, I woke up at 4am and just started putting this show together from prologue to epilogue, with timings of each piece, drawing of the live Instagram page, editing of the videos and soundtracks. The eight core artists that I wanted to collaborate with also became apparent to me and the Here & Now Collective was born.
I understand you are heading on a world tour after the UAE performance. Which cities will you be heading to?
We plan to go to three cities in France, then London, Berlin, Barcelona, and maybe even Lausanne in Switzerland in 2019. We are planning something outdoor on a plaza in Venice during the next Dance Biennale. A tour in North and South America is also planned for 2020. A GCC tour maybe also organised in parallel to the European tour.
If there is one takeaway you want the audience to leave with, what would it be and why?
Deep joy. Maybe tears of joy. And the desire to practice living arts more and more, each at our level, just for the deep pleasure of being in the beauty and harmony of the present moment through the amazing artistic abilities of our body.
Don’t miss it !
#Meditate, an experimental dance theatre production, will be staged at the Centrepoint Theatre, Ductac on April 26. Tickets for the 73-minute performance start at Dh85. Gates open at 7.45pm for an 8.15pm start.