Ashley Lobo’s NIDT to Stage Contemporary Dance Theatre Production Agni in Delhi
by EVENTFAQS Bureau Entertainment | March 20, 2017 | News
Ashley Lobo Kamani Auditorium NCPA
Ashley Lobo’s Navhdhara India Dance Theatre's second production Agni successfully wrapped up its world premier in Mumbai in December and is all set for its second show in Delhi on March 29 and 30 at Kamani Auditorium. With 2 shows taking place, the dance theatre company expects a cumulative audience of about 1600 people.
Agni is a contemporary dance theatre work commissioned by the Suzanne Dellal Centre in Tel Aviv where it is slated to do an international premiere later this year. On conceptualising the production, Ashley Lobo remarked, “Agni is fire. Fire to me is passion. Passion can create or destroy. In creating we destroy. And in destroying we create. Agni plays with this thought. There are 10 dancers and the style of dance is contemporary dance theatre with abstract sound and movement.”
The Mumbai premier of Agni took place at the JBT Theatre of NCPA, Mumbai, with around 750 to 900 people attending, with the performance receiving a standing ovation. On the response, Ashley Lobo said, “The premier was a grand success with Yair Vardi, the director of the Suzanne Dellal Centre in Tel Aviv who commissioned the work, also present.”
On the choice of venue for the Delhi event, Lobo remarked, “Kamani has a nice big stage and facility for lights and technical, yet it feels intimate with the audience. It’s Perfect for Agni. Also, it's centrally located. Most of my bigger works have been shown here and I feel at home here.”
Navdhara India Dance Theatre is a contemporary dance company based out of Mumbai, India, founded by Indian-Australian choreographer Ashley Lobo. The USP of this dance theatre show is that it’s abstract and not in a linear format, meaning, the audience can draw their own conclusions about the dance and it would then be an interactive session where everyone can have their own perspective at the end of the show.
Ashley Lobo’s Navdhara India Dance Theatre was selected from over 200 applicants to perform at the first ever International Contemporary Dance Festival held in Shanghai in August 2016.
Agni will be staged at Kamani Auditorium on March 29 and 30, with an audience of around 1600 people in total. The work has been commissioned by the Suzanne Dellal Centre in Tel Aviv.