Montréal, Arts Interculturels Presents Two Incredible Back-to-Back Dance Premieres At The End Of March

MAI will host the Montreal premiere of two works by internationally-renowned, multicultural Canadian creators and dancers this Spring.

Performances mixing tradition and contemporaneity take the stage with Sujit Vaidya's OFF CENTRE (March 24 to 26) that questions how to express queer identity within traditional dance, and Sashar Zarif's Kismet قسمت (March 30 to April 2), an investigation of identity as a constructive negotiation of cultures, languages, and experiences told through music, dance, and storytelling.

PERFORMANCES OFF CENTRE questions a sense of "the other" that dwells within each of us, creating parallel realities. These realms offer a delicious tension between conflict and convergence. How can one express a queer identity within a traditional dance form? Exploring the embodiment of gender and sexuality both in and out of dance, the work becomes a luscious celebration of all things sensual and erotic, a full throttled defiance of heteronormative clichés, and a loving embrace of self.

Sujit Vaidya is an independent dancer and choreographer based in Vancouver, BC. His work reflects an urban sensibility juxtaposed seamlessly with an art form rooted in tradition. As a queer artist of colour, his choreographies and collaborations question the narrative and relevance of non-inclusive traditional texts. He aims to create space for queer expression within the context of Bharatanatyam and seeks collaborations with other queer artists of colour.

Kismet قسمت is a ritual of transforming fate to Destiny. What will you do with what is given to you? A thrumming auditory call reverberates among the quartet of dancers and singers whose breaths and bodies collaboratively create painterly images, spilling one into another. A river of dance and sound whose ebb and flow are as hypnotising and collective as any body of water. A self-study through memory which investigates the idea that identity is not the product but rather the process of an ongoing constructive negotiation amongst the cultures, languages, and experiences that we each carry with ourselves.

Kismet قسمت is presented in the contemporary style of Mugham which is an integrated practice Zarif has developed that blends dance, music, and storytelling inspired and informed by the Sufi and Shamanic rituals of Islamic societies. In it, words communicate the mental, music transmits the emotional, and dance conveys the physical. These influences on the work are deeply rooted in Sashar Zarif's nomadic ancestry.

Sujit Vaidya is an independent choreographer and dance artist based in Vancouver that blends traditional dance forms with a modern understanding of identity. His work reflects an urban sensibility that is seamlessly juxtaposed with art rooted in tradition and aims to create a space for queer expression within the context of Bharatanatyam, a form of Indian classical dance in which he is trained. As a queer artist of colour, his choreographies and collaborations question the narrative and relevance of non inclusive traditional texts. Sujit predominantly works as soloist and has performed extensively in Canada, the U.S., Europe and India. He has collaborated with companies such as Co Erasga in Vancouver, inDANCE in Toronto, Nava Dance in California and Spilling Ink in Washington, D.C. to name a few. He continues his training with Guru A. Lakshman. Sashar Zarif is a multi-disciplinary performing artist, educator, and researcher whose artistic practice invites a convergence of creative and cultural perspectives. His interests are identity, globalization, and cross-cultural collaborations. His practice is steeped in the artistry and history of traditional, ritualistic, and contemporary dance and music of the Near Eastern and Central Asian regions. He has toured across the Americas, Europe, North Africa, Central and Western Asia, and the Middle East, promoting cultural dialogue through intensive fieldwork, residencies, performances, and creative collaborations. He is the recipient of numerous awards for his collaborations with outstanding Canadian artists along with international icons such as Alim Quasimov (a collaborator on Yo-Yo MA's Silk Road Project), and universities and arts institutions across continents.

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