Teamwork Arts Brings Shilpika Bordoloi's MAJULI to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Majuli, a stunning and picturesque island in Assam's mighty Brahmaputra river, is also the world's biggest river island. Located in the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra, Majuli is the world's largest freshwater mid-river delta system, and has been the cultural heart of the Assamese civilisation.

Jorhat-based dancer and choreographer Shilpika Bordoloi has created a physical theatre performance piece based on the social, cultural and spiritual life of the river island Majuli.

Set to music created by instruments played by the Assamese, the Deori and the Mising communities of Majuli, Shilpika meanders in the rhythm of a river. This mesmeric solo is a celebration of the spirit of Majuli and the flow of the Brahmaputra, which are woven together to signify the intricate bond of people with their land, and their resilient and adaptive relationship with the river told through an intense and evocative narrative of movement, dance and theatre. The meandering character of the river and its cycle of give and take is due to undergo rapid changes with the ongoing plans of several hydroelectricity and infrastructure projects.

For these projects to be sustainable, the innumerable stories of the resilience of the people-river interactions ­­- much like the one she will tell - need to inform these changes.

Born in a quiet corner of Assam (Dhemaji) and brought up in Jorhat, Assam, Shilpika Bordoloi has always been headed for a life of dance. From the age of three, she trained at the Indian classical dance form of Manipuri under Guru Rathindra Sinha and later on with Padmashree Darshana Jhaveri. She went on to study the Indian classical dance Bharatanatyam under Padmashree Leela Samson and later worked in her company, Spandan. Shilpika has deliberately not trained in any of the Western dance forms allowing her to generate her own language.

Shilpika Bordoloi said "This production is an earnest effort to share the story of Majuli through a personal vocabulary of movement, dance and theatre. The island has fascinated me from my early childhood days through frequent boat rides that I shared with my father."

She continued "The performer travels like the river water; the rhythms, flirtation of the folk, the tragedy of one's house getting washed away, the pleasures of rain, the spiritualism of the Satras, the structures, along with the imagery of a boat, create 'Majuli'".

"The sync of traditional knowledge system and practices with modernity has been the challenge that has engulfed the entire world in many ways, and this piece is an attempt towards sharing stories of adaptability, striking a balance between traditional and modern knowledge," Bordoloi also said.

Majuli is part of a season of work presented by Teamwork Arts on behalf of the Indian High Commission, the Ministry of Culture, and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations. The UK-India Year of Culture stretches from May to November celebrating the rich diversity of Indian culture, the deep cultural ties between the two nations and the 70th Anniversary of Indian Independence. Further details of activity up and down the UK can be found at www.indiaatuk2017.com.

Photo credit: Darshan Manakkal

To post a comment, you must register and login.