Open Labs: Kinnari Vora | Poster designed by Mallory Qiu
Open Labs
Deepening the creative process through community exchange
Co-presented and produced by High Concept Labs and the Monira Foundation in Joint Residency at Mana Contemporary
Free admission, registration strongly encouraged: Register Here
*Proof of vaccination and masks are required.
Open Labs is a flexible, monthly platform for High Concept Labs' Artists in Residence to share, test ideas, and develop perspective on their work.
Open Labs: Kinnari Vora
July 23 @ 7pm
Workshop presentation and artist talk by Sarmishtha Sarkar
Project process sharing by HCL Partner Artist Kinnari Vora
Co-presented by Ishti Collective and High Concept Labs (HCL) in Joint Residency with the Monira Foundation at Mana Contemporary, and supported by Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist Program
Limited capacity. RSVP and proof of vaccination required for admittance.
Kinnari Vora: Antarabhava
HCL Partner Artist Kinnari Vora’s Open Labs night starts with a workshop presentation and artist talk with guru Sarmishtha Sarkar. Then, Kinnari presents the “process” sharing of her ongoing project “Antarabhava: an existence in intervals”, it includes rituals, performance and conversations.
“Antarabhava: an existence in intervals” is a dance work developed by Kinnari with live music, as a meditation on mortality, the journey of consciousness and impermanence. Her process includes researching the current healthcare system, different religious, cultural, and societal perspectives and practices about the subject of aging, death and end-of-life care.
“I would like to embark on a journey that enables me to slow down, be present, feel more, think less, and integrate healing practices in my dancemaking through the research, development, and presentation of ‘Antarabhava: an existence in intervals’ (In the process). What can I learn to bring acceptance, preparedness, and celebration to the death transition?” —Kinnari Vora
HCL supports ongoing development of Antarabhava with long time collaborators Bob Garrett and Ishti Collective members Tuli Bera and Preeti Veerlapati. The team welcomes Ashaand Simone, Chitra Nair, Lauren Reed, Emily Loar, Sanjana Nair, Ronnie Malley and Carlo Basile to the process.
Produced by Ishti Collective, Antarabhava development by the team includes a week-long residency with Kinnari's guru, Sarmishtha Sarkar from Ahmedabad India at HCL, including 2 days of open to public dance workshops.
Sarmishtha Sarkar Workshops Registration Link
About the Artists
Kinnari Vora is a 2022 Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist. A native of India, she began training at an early age in Indian folk dance, Kalaripayattu martial arts, and Bharatanatyam, and continues studies under Sarmishtha Sarkar, in India. In Chicago, she is the co-founder of the dance group Ishti Collective, with Preeti Veerlapati, and a member of the cross-disciplinary Surabhi Ensemble, founded by composer and veena musician Saraswathi Ranganathan. In addition, Kinnari, who holds a Doctorate of Physical Therapy from Dominican College and a Master of Science from Ithaca College, New York, maintains a practice in outpatient orthopedic physical therapy.
Kinnari’s evolving dance and healing practice fusion led to “Prana”, co-created and co-directed with Tuli Bera for Ishti Collective’s 2021 engagement at Pivot Arts Festival. She has also performed original solo and ensemble work at World Music Festival Chicago’s annual Ragamala, The Art Institute Chicago, Detroit Dance City Festival, the Uttarardh Dance Festival in India, and for the Embassy of India in Mexico City. With the Surabhi Ensemble she has toured to Mexico, Vietnam, Spain and Portugal.
Sarmishtha Sarkar is a renowned Bharatanatyam dancer, choreographer and educator from Ahmedabad India. Sarmishtha is the founder and creative director of Aavirbhav School of Creative Arts. She serves as a faculty at Gujarat University for Masters in Performing Arts in Bharatanatyam. Sarmishtha’s formative training was under tutelage of teachers like Padmashri Guru Chattuni Panicker and Guru Pathagudy Ramaswamy, after which she was the principle dancer under Mrinalini Sarabhai’s Darpana Academy of Performing Arts for almost two decades. Sarmishtha has toured extensively in the US and Europe.
Sarmishtha’s choreographic presentations encompass pure classical pieces in the Bharatanatyam and also experiments with the fusion of the classical, contemporary and folk styles, which result in a unique, creative portrayal of the merging of diverse artistic endeavors. Dance has always been her strongest mode of communication. Her choreographic pieces never carry direct messages, instead leave open a space for the audience to reflect and muse. She believes in subtlety in her presentations.