Breathe In The Fragrance was created as I unpacked the complex histories of erasure, marginalization and appropriation of Bharatanatyam, the form that I’m trained in and as I find new ways to be present within the complexities that I have inherited. It is an attempt in finding nuance within what I know now, because it also holds histories of many bodies and rich intergenerational information.

Breathe In The Fragrance is a celebration of the Mogra (Indian jasmine) flower. To me, its fragrance represents sensuality, eroticism, vulnerability, ambiguity, fragility and transience, what I like to think of as sensations of in betweenness. The performance space is energized with tons of fresh mogra that we import from India. Strings of mogra are offered to audiences as they enter performance space. They can choose to wear them in their hair, string them around their wrists, as garlands, or hold on to them during the performance. The fresh flowers are also part of our set design. Strings of mogra are placed very close to audiences so that even before the performance, they are enveloped in the energy and essence of mogra. Audiences are offered jasmine tea or jasmine infused cocktails (when available) or jasmine flavoured sweets pre show to create a multi sensory experience.

Breathe In The Fragrance is a celebration of brown queerness with all of its cultural specificity through my lived experiences and embedded memories. The aesthetics of Breathe In The Fragrance are very specific and referenced from old world Hindi cinema. The entire set is in shades of ivory, creams, golds, including the costuming and lighting design.

Breathe In The Fragrance is a Queer Fantasy that is manifested through a portal, represented by a 6 foot by 3 foot frame. The portal opens up a world of fantasy that allows for a fully fleshed out expression of erotic longing. The space in between the portal represents transience, fragility, ambiguity and sensuality. It is dismantled at some point to represent a dissolution of fragmentation between fantasy and possibility.

The work includes 3 dancers including myself and 3 live musicians. Each of us respectfully question notions of “tradition”, “classicism” to make space for an expansive experience of the form. Along with me are dancers Kiruthika Rathanaswami and Malavika Santhosh and the musicians are Curtis Andrews who plays the mridangam, Arno Kamolika who plays the nattuvangam, and Ramya Kapadia who is the vocalist. The lighting design is by Wolf James.