Bonjour India “Gangâ” by Brigitte Chataignier

« A choreographic piece uniting poetry, music and dance »

“Ganga. An immense river, mythical, open to all whispers, all echoes. A matrix-river, a river of memories.
The body undulates, becomes water, and creates a circulation of gestures. Then stops, disappears, before playing with signs and being filled with expressions”

Through breath, voice and gestures, Gangâ explores the feminine intensity of the river: joy, sensitivity, meditation, mourning or melancholy. Inspired by a journey to the symbolic places of the Ganga, this show mixes contemporary dance and musical improvisation, poetic writing and sounds.

Nourished by both Indian and Western choreographic influences, this piece tries to reveal the essential values not only of the Ganga but also of water, and women.

With a scenography that recaptures the idea of a ghat – from the steps to the podium and even to the altar dedicated to the divinity – the show can be adapted to all kinds of spaces, both interior and exterior.

A contemporary choreographer and Mohini Attam dancer, Brigitte Chataigner divides her time between India and France. Her approach to Mohini Attam is between tradition and modernity, a research on the transmission and conservation of a cultural heritage as well as creative work. Brigitte Chataigner is also deeply involved in contemporary creation both as a dancer and choreographer.Like a river in metamorphosis, Gangâ has already made several stops in France. The first steps were staged in the Garage in the city of Rennes in France and on Réunion Island, before its first full performance on the Scène Nationale (the National Stage) in the town of Saint-Quentin-en-Yve- lines in March 2011. Gangâ was also adapted for open-air performance on the banks of the river Marne for the “Festival de l’Oh !”

A shorter version was selected and performed for the “Poets’ Spring” event at the Marguerite Duras auditorium in Paris.

For Brigitte Chataignier, staging this piece in India is an opportunity to explore a western viewpoint deeply influenced by Indian culture, and to anchor it in what is essentially its starting point. It brings together live performance with a human adventure, a network of partners working to bring out essential values conveyed not only by the Ganges, but in a wider sense, water itself, and also woman.