City dance-theatre group uses satire to explore aspects of identity

Through their latest dance-theatre production, named ‘Who Am I?’, the group aims to delve into the various aspects of discovering oneself while being assigned female at birth. Aparnaa Nagesh, the choreographer/director of the production, says the performance draws from experiences of people who were born as female and then went on to discover who they truly are.

“Everyone encounters the question of ‘Who am I?’ at some point or other in his/her life and wants to know whether they’re a name, or a gender or something beyond that. But, when it comes to someone assigned female at birth, there is not enough space for self-discovery, as there are already pre-conceived expectations from them by the society. The show explores the path of self-actualisation of someone assigned female at birth amid all the socio-cultural norms and parental conditioning, through satire,” Aparnaa explains about the idea behind the performance.

The 75-minute show will have about 90 per cent of it as dance and the remainder 10 per cent as a narrative in the form of monologue and dialogue.

A 10-member all-women crew will be performing the show. The show will be metaphoric and have the performers playing the roles of clowns, portraying how they are expected to behave. “We are clear that we don’t want to be preachy through the performance. We will only be sharing our emotions, and our stories of discovering ourselves through a language that is sarcastic. We want the audience to have a laugh and connect with the show, while also giving an opportunity to think,”she elaborates.

Who Am I? marks the ninth production of High Kicks Dance Ensemble. After the debut presentation of the show in the city, Aparnaa hopes to take it to other cities as well.

Who Am I? will be staged atAlliance Francaise of Madras in Nungambakkam on September 8at 4 pm and 7 pm.