Korzo UP#8 with Chandenie Gobardhan

‘What if letting go isn’t an ending, but your greatest form of agency?’

Dancer and choreographer Chandenie Gobardhan (1997) was recently nominated for the Innovation Award Nederlandse Dansdagen Maastricht. Through her performances, she dismantles all possible expectations we may have. Whether it’s expectations of people of color or of dance styles, she seeks a sense of openness that feels refreshing and inspiring. We speak to her about something that could help many people move forward in life: letting go

Between Laak and London
Chandenie grew up in a close-knit family in the Laak district of The Hague. It’s a neighborhood defined by diversity, which she now recognizes as a luxury, and a strong sense of community. As a child, she would go door to door to show her neighbors her report card. She now divides her time between The Hague and a London neighborhood that feels similarly familiar, where she created her new performance: Caught Again in the Net of Rebirth.

Your new piece revolves around Trimurti: a Hindu concept centered on the continuous cycle of creation, preservation, and destruction. You see this as less religious and more existential. Where did that interest start?

‘As a child, I had a poster of Trimurti in my bedroom, with Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva,’ she says. ‘I didn’t think these gods literally looked like that. At home, we used them as a tool to understand the abstract ideas they represent. Trimurti always stayed with me.’

Why do you think that is?
‘It’s something that’s constantly unfolding, on both a large and a small scale. From the cells in my body being created, preserved, and destroyed, to the coffee I make in the morning, to the friendships and relationships in my life. It made me wonder what would happen if I suddenly found myself living in the same time as a younger version of my grandmother. Those three phases move through time and through each other.’

Starting something new often feels light and full of life, while destruction feels less so. How do you see that?
‘We often see destruction as something negative. But without it, nothing new can be created. It’s like a snake shedding its skin. There are many forms of letting go: a new job, the loss of a loved one, the end of a relationship. They’re all experiences of grief that we tend to be afraid of, but while creating this performance, I became so familiar with that cycle that I began to trust that every ending was a new beginning. Ultimately, this piece is very much about unarticulated grief.’

Are there things you think we don't grieve enough about?
‘Plenty,’ she says. ‘The state of the world, the versions of yourself that no longer exist, the moments we miss with our families. And things you can’t put into words. We tend to just keep going, but in my work I try to make space for it. Not in a heavy or closed-off kind of way, but as an open movement—a collective breath.’

What would you like us to let go of about you as a maker?

‘Unfortunately, there’s still a certain expectation of what I’ll do, based purely on how I look. Trimurti sounds exotic, so people assume I’ll be doing something with hand gestures. I find that very limiting. My work brings together Bharatanatyam, street styles, and contemporary dance and isn’t very style-focused. It runs parallel to who I am. It’s layered. I’m a girl from The Hague with Surinamese parents and Indian roots. That’s a whole universe in itself. Through dance, I hope to shift that way of thinking, those expectations.’

On Thursday, April 30, the Dutch premiere of Caught Again in the Net of Rebirth will take place at Korzo. Tickets are still available!