GODAVARI: WHO AM I? To Be Presented At Philadelphia Fringe Festival

Spilling Ink is set to present Godavari: Who Am I?, a multidisciplinary performance project blending classical South Indian Bharatanatyam dance with original music and a shifting visual landscape. The performance will take place on Saturday, September 12, 2026, at Performance Garage, as part of the 2026 Philadelphia Fringe Festival.

Conceived and performed by a core ensemble of artists including Vijay Palaparty (Spilling Ink, Washington, DC), Nalini Prakash (Spilling Ink, Philadelphia), and Ramya Kapadia (Natyarpana, Knoxville, Tennessee), Godavari: Who Am I? invites audiences into an immersive experience that unfolds as a series of fluid, interconnected moments. Moving between narrative and sensation, the work creates space for reflection through movement, sound, and image.

'Godavari asks what becomes possible when we return to memory, to devotion, and to the quieter parts of ourselves we often leave behind,' says Nalini Prakash, lead performer and collaborator. 'The river becomes both witness and companion in the work, carrying longing, grief, and transformation while inviting us to sit with what resurfaces along the way.'

Rooted in the sacred presence of the Godavari River, the performance moves through a landscape shaped by memory, devotion, and return. Beginning at the edge of the sea, a journey unfolds inward through spaces of abundance, revelation, love, and quiet loss. Along the way, what remains hidden begins to surface. Devotion reveals itself through persistence and surrender. Longing settles into the body.

'What we carry, including grief, desire, and memory, begins to shift through the act of returning. Drawing from layered mythic and devotional narratives associated with the river, the work traces echoes of revelation, witness, and transformation without resolving into a single story,' Nalini says. 'Instead, Godavari: Who Am I? invites audiences into a contemplative experience where meaning emerges gradually through rhythm, movement, and attention.'

Blending Bharatanatyam dance with original music and a shifting visual environment, the performance unfolds through interconnected scenes that move between intimacy and expansiveness, narrative and abstraction. As the river turns back toward its source, a deeper recognition begins to emerge as return.

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