In the lost wax process of metal casting, the molten substance is poured into a mould sculpted around a wax model. Eventually, the wax melts and drains away when it is subjected to heat — it is ‘lost’ — giving the process its evocative name. It is this state of flux that choreographer and dancer Preethi Athreya channels into the body in her new work, The Lost Wax Project along with three other dancers — Avantika Bahl, Dipna Daryanani, and Sanchita Sharma.
“You are seeing something tangible, but [what] made it tangible is no longer there,” says Athreya, comparing the casting process to the function of the body in space. “That became a very apt metaphor. Because of the intention we carry in us, we must be able to leave a trace, and need to be aware of why and what kind of trace we leave in the spaces we are in.”
Bound by space
In The Lost Wax Project , dancing bodies become containers — holding and carrying space and time. Four dancers form a series of shapes with their arms, compressing the space in front of them, pushing it out to the sides, nudging it upwards or sliding it backwards. Gradually, their actions fade from one’s perspective, and one’s attention is drawn to the negative space these actions frame. One begins to discern relationships: of dancers to space, of space to space, and between the dancers — continuously forming and unravelling as the piece runs its course.
Athreya’s recent work has been punctuated by this interest in relationships. In her previous work, Conditions of Carriage, an average of ten performers jumped on and off a square platform in unison. This act was deployed to illustrate a certain precision and endurance, and the performers’ willingness to find a shared dynamic of trust and reciprocity. The energy and aggression contained in the ‘jumping project’, as it came to be known, led Athreya to think about the human need for contact as a philosophical proposition. How was the desire to make contact connected to space between human beings, she wondered. Buoyed by the diversity of performers who ‘jumped’ in her piece — lawyers, therapists, actors and parkour practitioners falling in step with dancers — Athreya imagined how a work made in various places with different people would unfold once it came together. Sensitive to the logistical and financial challenges of working with such a large group of people, she decided to create a work with four dancers from across the country.
Resilience and fortitude
It was important to Athreya to have an all-female cast — a decision she attributes to the heightened emotional endurance she notices in women. The piece has weathered its fair share of challenges, with multiple dancers having to bow out due to injury. Athreya speaks of this as a reaction to tension and fragility, where people are thrown off balance and off centre by the times they live in. What does it mean to be ‘political’ in these times? How do attitudes, thoughts and power inscribe themselves on the body? “Living in a time that is hyper-sensitive, where it takes very little to incite or ignite, we are always harping on the red herrings, which are the labels we give ourselves as people — ‘man’, ‘woman’, ‘aristocrat’ or ‘beggar’,” says Athreya. “But one must pay attention to thought in body language. Every time you move, you have the potential to make very different relationships. You are only seen in relation to something else, not in isolation. Without this relativity, you run the risk of being political in a very reactionary manner.”
Besides the figurative ‘moulding’ of space and time, there is also a literal one. The dancers perform within a defined circle that is covered in an even layer of rice powder. Tiny curves emerge on the surface as the dancers trace arcs across the floor. Gradually there is no surface left undisturbed, and the powder is swept into sharp ridges as the dancers walk and then lie down. As they sweat, the powder sticks to them. If the wax suggests an austerity of purpose and singularity of intention, the powder is what adds complexity and texture to the underlying premise.
The Lost Wax Project will be performed this evening at Max Mueller Bhavan. Entry is free.
