‘It moves, it is motionless. It is distant, it is near. It is within all, it is without all this.’ - Isha Upanishad 

In STRĪ (lit. woman), choreographer Poernima Gobardhan shares an indescribable woman with you. The only way to describe the woman is to name what the woman is not. She is soundless, senseless, formless, odourless, boundless and, above all, infinite. Would you like to meet her? 

With Bharata Natyam as a starting point, Gobardhan enables you to enter into this encounter with her dancers. A dance performance with an impressive soundscape, penetrating movements and an exceptional interplay between space and dancers. 

In her work, she connects age-old stories, subjects and concepts from classical Indian literature to her own experiences with integrity and thoughtfulness, so that even today her choreographies do not miss their impact with a wide audience of dance lovers.

Her great strength? That she has developed Bharatanatyam, a classical dance form, into something of our time. How she does that? By transforming this form into the expressiveness of her own body. She draws on the hand gestures and stories of the classical form that tell of heroes and Gods. But she, as a modern Dutch woman with Hindustani roots, juxtaposes her individual drives and life questions.

In this way, she developed an aesthetic, emotionally layered and dynamic movement language of her own. She attended specific bharatanatyam training courses in both the Netherlands and India and obtained a Master's degree in Theatre Studies. By merging her seasoned experience with the narrative dance style and her open, inquisitive gaze, the maker finds the freedom to share her view of the world.

Friday 24 May 

Visit two performances on one evening during India Dance Festival!
With this combi ticket, you recieve a €12 discount when you attend the performances below:

Strī - Poernima Gobardhan | Fri May 24 - 19:00
Fires of Varanasi: Dance of the Eternal Pilgrim | Fri May 24 - 20:30

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