What ‘Rorschach Touch’, Diya Naidu’s performance piece does is hold up a mirror to the human mind and let it reflect upon its own perceptions on interactions between people, or ‘gendered bodies’.
“The name of the performance is stolen from the Rorschach inkblot test, a psychological test where people are asked to look at random ink blots. Based on their perceptions and certain parameters, the psychologist would be able to figure out the internal state of the mind,” explains Diya, an independent performer and choreographer.
“What interested me about this concept is that human beings have a tendency to make meaning out of something which has no meaning. I wanted to apply it to the idea of touch and intimacy, to the way that people interact with each other and how that is perceived by a third eye.”
She feels it goes a long way in reflecting our tastes, tendencies, desires, and prejudices, in the way we look at someone or two people and decide that they must be employer-employee, mother-child, lovers or friends.
“The entire piece is more than a performance, it’s an immersive experience where the audience is invited to look at something and experience it in their heads.”
The performance begins with an image of people sleeping together and waking up together, by moving across the floor in a choreographed sequence. The sequence then repeats itself with different sets of people, in a combination of genders (man and woman, two women or two men).
The sleeping bodies, she describes, are interlinked and it is for the audience to figure out what kind of connection they share.
“That is, if that is the questions you seek to ask. People can also enjoy the piece for the sensorial value of bodies interacting gently. There are playful, aggressive, even romantic touches. We don’t see enough of gentle touches in the media or in cinema, where everything is portrayed more aggressively or directly.” And so the process of choreography for the performance, drew from this aspect of people going to sleep together and waking up slowly, with the performers sharing aspects of their own lives.
“There is very little dialogue, you can hear the performers breathing, and making sounds but they speak very little. There is a soundscore but it’s more ambient, placed as an auditory hook to pull the audience’s attention back into the piece when required.”
Rorschach Touch’ will take place on July 1 and 2 at Shoonya, Lalbagh Road. Tickets can be booked through bookmyshow.com. For details, contact Sudeep on 9902455182.
