Q+A
CW: Anita, tell us about the creative
process for your recent project, The
Jungle Book, created in collaboration
with Northwest Children’s Theater.
AM: At the onset, we knew that this
would not be Disney’s version, so we went
back to the original story by Kipling. The
production is a movement-heavy show
with different styles of Indian dance, from
classical to Bollywood. Coming from two
different worlds of dance training, Sarah
Jane [Hardy, Northwest Children Theater’s
artistic director] and I spent the first few
weeks developing a shared vocabulary
which we created through dance workshops together, a hybrid style of movement
that would not only be influenced by
Bharatanatyam but would also celebrate
the rich traditions of Western physical theater. The production married both Indian
dance and Western theatre with toetapping music and vibrant costumes. It’s
been wonderful to bring Indian dance and
music to mainstream children’s theatre audiences in Portland for the very first time.
Besides creating unique pieces of artistic
work, I strongly believe that collaborations
build tolerance, foster genuine respect for
others, and in this case, create a lifelong
friendship.
CW: Linda, as a longtime member of
the Portland dance community, how
have you seen the dance scene here