Zara Halke- Kabir | Arko – Kolkata | Sandra – Munich | Ida – Minessota | Three souls | One hope (2021)
Kabir was a 15th-century Indian mystic poet and saint, whose writings influenced Bhakti movement and his verses are found in Sikhism’s scripture Guru Granth Sahib. He was a poet of equality, a poet of love, a poet against all divisive forces.
We three friends from three countries, Sandra Chatterjee from Munich, Germany, Ida Jo from Minnesota, USA and myself Arko Mukhaerjee from Kolkata, India bring to you our humble interpretation of the song. This is a improvised version of this legendary song where we have tried to give our humble best. All three of us, living in these trying times, hope sincerely that human kind finds it’s thread of oneness, through love and togetherness.
This video is edited and partly shot by our dear brother Amit Biswas, a sincere village boy, who have tirelessly worked during the entire time of countrywide lockdown, to support the poor and underprivileged of his area. We express our gratitude to him and every one who have helped in the making of this video.
Earnest gratitude to the people and organizations who helped in the making.
Camera (Munich): Christoph Mukherjee
With support of Die Färberei Kreisjugendring München-Stadt.
Special Thanks to Sourav Bagchi our dearest brother for mixing and mastering this project and Srijan Biswas for helping in the shoot and providing multiple footages from his archive that helped in the making of this video.
Sincerely
Arko Mukherjee – Voice, Dotara
Sandra Chatterjee – Dance, Choreography
Ida jo – Violin
Roti Dedo Humey – After the Apocalypse – Together in Lockdown | Srabanti, Shruti, Sandra, Arko (2020)
The countrywide COVID19 lockdown in India has rendered millions of working class people jobless, starving and helpless. People are walking thousands of miles to reach their village homes.
On top of that a super cyclone called Amphun has destroyed homes of millions in West Bengal, Orissa and Bangladesh. No home, no food, no drinking water no privilege of social distancing, diseased, morally broken clinging on to straws of hope that, one day life will be normal again. Will it?
3 dancers locked down in 3 cities in 3 different parts of the world come together with a musician, a writer and an editor to express their vulnerability, rage and helplessness, finding a common thread of expressing lament through movements and words. This is not a song. Not Dance. Not poetry. Just sorrow.
Dancers
Srabanti – Kolkata, India
Shruti Ghosh – Nur Sultan, Kazakhstan
Sandra Chatterjee – Munich, Germany
Music, Voice, Dotara – Arko Mukhaerjee, Kolkata
Mixed and mastered by Sourav Bagchi
Shot by the dancers themselves.
Edited by Amit Biswas – Binimoypara, North 24 Parganas
a.p.a.r.t. (2017)
video design: Meena Murugesan
choreography and performance : Sandra Chatterjee and Cynthia Ling Lee
additional video editing: Cynthia Ling Lee in dialogue with Sandra Chatterjee
camerawork: Varsha Dewan, Sandra Chatterjee, and Cynthia Ling Lee
music: Mora saiyan bulave (Raag Desh) sung by Indrani Mukherjee
This video was developed in part through the Post Natyam Collective’s long distance process, Borders Resurfacing.
It is part of the Back to the Beautiful Installation
Beach Prayer (2017)
Camera, Editing and Sound Design: Varsha Dewan
Performance: Sandra Chatterjee
This video was developed in part through the Post Natyam Collective’s long distance process, Borders Resurfacing.
It is part of the Back to the Beautiful Installation.
Saalach | San Lorenzo (or Two Rivers, Two Continents) (2017)
Saalach | San Lorenzo (or Two Rivers, Two Continents) from Cynthia Ling Lee on Vimeo.
This split-screen dance-for-camera work abstractly evokes the stories of two rivers: the Saalach forms the national border dividing Germany and Austria, while the San Lorenzo flows through Santa Cruz, California. This video work ruminates on the natural beauty, bodies, and border histories of migration associated with the two bodies of water, drawing on text created through a Mixing Waters ritual.
Choreography, Performance, and Camerawork: Sandra Chatterjee and Cynthia Ling Lee
Text and Sound Design: Cynthia Ling Lee
Video Editing: Cynthia Ling Lee in dialogue with Sandra Chatterjee
This video was developed in part through the Post Natyam Collective’s long distance process, Borders Resurfacing.
It is part of the Back to the Beautiful Installation.
Roja Puve (2014)
(password: queering)
roja puve 2 – Work in Progress from Sandra Chatterjee on Vimeo.
A work-in-progress presented at the Tamil Studies Conference, Toronto, May 2014
Created as part of Post Natyam Collective’s Queering Abhinaya long distance creative process
Concept/Choreography/Performance/Video: Sandra Chatterjee
Musi: Oliver Rajamani
The Sound of Snow
Choreography and performance: Sandra Chatterjee
Camera and editing: Peter A. Pfaff
Music: Gurpreet Chana; Peter A. Pfaff, Didi Neidhart