Devotions is a project in which two dancer-musicians come together to choreograph Western opera/oratorio repertoire using Indian Classical dance vocabulary. A performance of the choreographies is scheduled to take place in September 2021 at the Esplanade Concourse. In embarking on this project, the collaborators aim to put two distinct traditions in dialogue and, through the investigation of their compatibilities and potential tensions, cultivate an intercultural aesthetic with theoretical and practical dimensions. In performance, we aim to convey the operatic songs’ narrative themes with movement vocabulary adapted from the expressive representational idiom of abhinaya, thereby allowing the storytelling properties behind each art form to reinforce each other. From a practical performer’s perspective, a secondary aim of ‘Devotions’ is to devise a movement practice which supports healthy operatic technique and expression while singing. Beyond performance, this project anticipates further development in the form of an auto-ethnographic document.

Our presentation at this symposium aims to outline the ongoing process, background research, and findings of this work in progress.