Remixing natya: Revanta Sarabhai’s ldr and post natyam collective’s super ruwaxi: Origins

Abstract

In this chapter we analyze two contemporary performance works that intersect mediatized and live elements by transnational artists trained in classical Indian dance: LDR2 by Revanta Sarabhai, a Bharatanatyam-trained performer, choreographer, multimedia designer and filmmaker who works between England, the Netherlands and India; and Super Ruwaxi: Origins by Cynthia Ling Lee and Shyamala Moorty of the Post Natyam Collective, a transnational, web-based coalition of artists who creatively and critically engage South Asian dance.3 We argue that these ‘remixed’ works expand the notion of natya, which “traditionally encompasses drama, dance, and music as inextricably intertwined elements” (Rangacharya, 1999: 3), for a present-day technology-saturated world.