Emanate issue 04.indd

Never Stop Dancing
We dance best with the world in the b y D A S H E L L C . Y A N C H A EM M A IN HUM A N RIGH T S P R AC T IC E 2010 When we saw hijacked planes crash
on the moon, when Edith Piaf fi rst sang in horror as tidal waves drowned the – irrespective of whether they marked lives, hopes, and dreams of people hit by the 2004 tsunami, we were inundated brought smile to our faces. For like our with grief, ourselves. Last year, when experiences with tragedies, our encoun- Moreover, he asked questions which mainstream tick- ters with the joys of life and living, need eted proscenium theatre do not risk asking.
“Unbound” ended with a clip of Charlie Chapin’s
fi lm “The Great Dictator”, as the unconventionally French character got rolled up into a ball in the can- vas, and rolled off the stage space. The physical im- ing the world through another person’s age of a disposable human being called attention to the inhumanity with which a large percentage of the world’s population is treated, outside the comforts of a dominant economic, political and social position in so- ciety. Parnab commented that a French France is over, just as a Hindu India is over and therefore history, indi- viduals, and a multicultural society must acknowledge alise the fragility of our own mortality. Our big and small joys feed the mu-
these shifts in identities. He reminded us that we need a new notion of justice and fairness and a new sense tion we share with the rest of humanity; steps that connect us with the world. In of urgency in questioning dominant notions of reality. that regardless of colour, belief, gender, “When was the last time a protest meant something to religion or class, we are bound by the energy and vigour that persuade others you as a lifestyle and was not thought of as fashion- able; when did you risk your money and your identity time – and I do not only refer to trag- edies of such magnitude as previously enough melody that lures others to con-enumerated. Tragedies can also mean tinue with their own soft lullabies, and Parnab mentioned in post-performance discussion
the personal struggles and heartbreaks we become the music to other peoples’ that, “ultimately our idea of producing Hind Swaraj’s fi rst ever theatre production is to bring out the essence lives. The death of a loved one, the fail- of a classic that talks about the machine that enslaves ure of relationships, the shortfalls of souls a bit higher and draw us closer to us. It also tells us about the difference between de- velopment and sustainable development. Even after a century, the text still answers many disturbing ques- tions. Hind Swaraj is ultimately the soul force… Anyone theless. These tragedies – big or small tunes. And as the world moves at an or a group of people can ultimately become the change – sustain our own dance with the world.
makers. But the change has to be an active change and not some passive theoretical change.” On this note, the dance studio of tragedies. The music I would like to end this article in the hopes that you might be inspired to read Hind Swaraj and to refl ect intermittently shifts. As in everything have also danced a tragic dance. And on your capacities to generate active change both lo- during our joyful times, it is best that cally and globally, through whichever means you have at your disposal, whether through performance, visual arts, writing, policy work, human rights activism, etc. Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, point is, however, to never stop dancing.

Source: http://www.em-a.eu/fileadmin/content/MAGAZINE/EMAnate%20Issue%2004.indd/files/assets/downloads/page0033.pdf