Not Today's Yesterday - Seeta Patel
Seeta Patel is a force to be reckoned with. Her strong will, magnetic presence and passionate ideas come across equally as powerful on and off stage. But the life of a dance artist isn’t as glamorous as it may seem. Seeta is extremely busy with multiple projects on the go at once but I manage to catch her during a brief lunch break while rehearsing with a group of rising Bharatanatyam dancers in Birmingham as part of #TheNatyaProject, to chat about her exciting new tour.
Not Today’s Yesterday is an international collaboration between UK award-winning Bharatanatyam artist Seeta Patel and Australian choreographer Lina Limosani. This work blends classical Indian dance (Bharatanatyam) & contemporary dance in a striking, intelligent and engaging evisceration of ‘pretty’ and ‘suitable’ historical stories. It is a one-woman show which subversively co-opts whitewashing against itself.
“The inspiration stems from our concerns that revisionist and airbrushed histories have become a central issue of tension throughout the world, in particular in Western democracies.”
I first asked Seeta how the idea of the work came about as I was aware that it had been a number of years in progress.
“It started with my feeling that the history of Bharatnatyam has been white-washed. Having read Unfinished Gestures by Davesh Soneji, it really blew my mind that many of us going through the system are not often taught about the social and political history of the art form in its entirety. There’s more niceness rather than the grit of it. This is basically how history is white-washed in order to make it more palatable.”
I’d seen the work in progress around a year ago and it was haunting, hypnotic and extremely clever in its execution. Through the medium of a fairy-tale story, it draws people in with eerie familiarity, but as with any fairy-tale there are always dark undertones. Parts are grotesque and exaggerated with caricatures of colonial supremacy but other parts are gentle and vulnerable as Seeta gazes wide-eyed into the depths of what was.
The collaboration between Seeta and choreographer, Lina Limosani was first funded by the Arts Council’s Artist International Development Fund 2016 where Seeta travelled to Australia where Lina is based, to research and develop the work.
“Britain and Australia, amongst others, have sordid histories and relationships with indigenous and migrant communities. Skewed histories fuel a distorted sense of nationalism. This work aims to open up conversation through a clever appropriation of whitewashed histories.”
The following year, Seeta was able to gain further funding to develop the work in Poland, as another one of the collaborators was based there and perform previews of ‘Not Today’s Yesterday’ around the UK. Being based in a foreign country during this process really fuelled the creative ideas and themes, which fed into the piece.
Earlier this year they were able to sharpen the work to a fine point and received funding to perform ‘Not Today’s Yesterday’ at Adelaide Fringe Festival. During that period, they were successful in gaining a UK touring grant for this Autumn, so it has been through several stages and Seeta envisions it to live on in many different contexts, as the work deals with some of the most pressing issues of our time.
“This piece is a part of my wider work. Along with my classical work, whatever I do is political on a certain level. I can’t wake up in the morning and change the colour of my skin or the country that I’m born and live in, I am political. It’s not something I can choose to remove. I’m not of that privilege. Not in this country.”
As Seeta’s career rises and expands, I’m interested to learn about what advice she has to offer the next generation who look up to her as a role model and as an example of someone with a successful career as an Indian classical dancer or dancer from a South Asian background in this country. She’s brutally honest and explains that this career is by no means conventional, in any sense of the word. Her path has forced her to challenge the accepted ‘norms’ that we are socialised into as first and second generation South Asian immigrants who constantly strive to over-achieve. So to have to find temporary or casual work through the ebbs and flows is perfectly acceptable as it means that you can earn money, which doesn’t have to eat into the time that you want to work on dance.
“Certain professions require just as much energy as dance does, so I don’t personally believe that you can do both and give each job the commitment that it deserves.” says Seeta. “You have to understand what you really want and sometimes take scary steps to get there that you’re not confident or comfortable with.”
The interactive element of the work is the carefully curated post-show talks, as Seeta hopes that the audience becomes lured into a dark fantasy and taken on an experiential journey during the performance then the discussion afterwards is a chance for reflection and transformation.
Each performance has specifically relevant researchers, academics and powerful personalities who will help to uncover the themes behind the performance and welcome the audience to share their thoughts and ideas too.
So don’t miss out on a very special chance to experience a dance theatre work by such a phenomenal BROWNGIRL and book your tickets to a performance near you.
Seeta is on a UK Tour of her one woman dance theatre work Not Today's Yesterday this Autumn 2018. A collaboration with Limosani Projects. Tour details as follow:
- 2nd Oct - The Place
- 3rd Oct - The Place
2nd October
Gurminder K Bhambra is Professor of Postcolonial and Decolonial Studies in the School of Global Studies, University of Sussex.
Alice A. Procter is an art historian and museum educator. She runs
Uncomfortable Art Tours, unofficial guided tours exploring how the UK’s major art institutions came into being against a backdrop of imperialism.
Tanika Gupta - Over the past 20 years Tanika has written over 20 stage plays
that have been produced in major theatres across the UK. She has written 30
radio plays for the BBC and several original television dramas, as well as scripts
for EastEnders, Grange Hill and The Bill.
3rd October
Kenneth Tharp - Kenneth Tharp is the former Chief Executive of The Place, the
UK’s premier centre for contemporary dance.
Inua Elams - Born in Nigeria, Inua Ellams is a cross art form practitioner, a poet,
playwright & performer, graphic artist & designer and founder of the Midnight Run — an international, arts-filled, night-time, playful, urban, walking experience.
Tobi Kyeremateng - Tobi Kyeremateng is a theatre, festival and live
performance producer. She is currently Producer at Apples and Snakes,
Executive Producer (Up Next) at Bush Theatre, and Programme Coordinator at
Brainchild Festival.
- 5th Oct - Amata Theatre Falmouth University
- 12th Oct - Watermans Arts Centre
Box Office: 020 8232 1010
Bidisha Mamata: Bidisha is a British writer, film-maker and broadcaster/presenter for BBC TV and radio, Channel 4 news and Sky News and is a trustee of the Booker Prize Foundation, looking after the UK's most prestigious prizes for literature in English and in translation.
- 13th Oct - Kala Sangam, Bradford
Pauline Mayers Associate Artist with the West Yorkshire Playhouse Pauline produces her own shows as The Mayers Ensemble themed around participation, intimacy and identity.
Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan is a writer, speaker,
playwright, award-winning spoken-word activist and founder of the political blog www.thebrownhijabi.com
- 23rd Oct - Patrick Centre, Birmingham
Box Office: 0844 338 5000
Dr Kehinde Andrews: is Associate Professor of Sociology, and has been leading
the development of the Black Studies Degree at Birmingham City University.
Abeera Kamran: is a visual designer and a web-developer based in Birmingham
and Karachi, Pakistan. Her creative practice is research-based and lies at the
intersections of design, archiving practices and the internet.
“Once upon a time... in a faraway land... it happened... did not happen... could have happened.”
Supported by Chats Palace, Arts Council England, Country Arts SA, Arts SA, The Place London, Adelaide Fringe Artists Fund, LWD Dance Hub, British Council, The Bench UK and NA POMORSKIEJ Artist residency.
