Get ready for Sapphire’s premier biennial contemporary dance festival, ‘Interface Ed X’

It’s that time of the year when Sapphire Creations Dance Company is all set for ‘Interface Ed X 2024-25’. In collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, ‘Interface ED X’ is the 10th edition of India’s premier biennial contemporary dance festival, celebrating alternative and multidisciplinary performance art. Running from December 10, 2024, to August 2025, it spans 10 venues across India including four major cities - Kolkata, Shantiniketan, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Hyderabad and New Delhi - bringing together artists from France, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Poland and India. The Kolkata chapter will be held on December 10-12.

This edition expands its scope, incorporating non-dancers, disabled performers and youth from marginalised communities while exploring the intersections of various art forms. Apart from dance performances, there would be workshops and round-table discussions.

“‘Interface’ is a platform dedicated to transforming conventional practices and extending accessibility. In an industrial and societal context, where categorization leads to restrictive frameworks that shape artistic expression, ‘Interface Ed X’ attempts to address this by encouraging multidisciplinary, hybrid and collaborative artistic forms,” said festival director Sudarshan Chakravorty.

Meanwhile, for the Sapphire Creations Dance Company, ‘Kitareba’ is a special performance. ‘Kitareba’ explores the agony of migration and the resilience of connectedness beyond borders. Focusing on the plight of Bengali migrants in Northeast India, it highlights decades of political strife that divided communities yet failed to sever their shared love for their homeland.

Schedule for Kolkata Chapter

To The Bone (Dec 10)

LA HORDE/ Ballet National de Marseille, France

Alliance Francaise du Bengale, Park Mansion Terrace, 6:30 pm

Random Chapters (Dec 11)

Maya Dance Theatre / Under The Bridge, Singapore

Kitareba

Sapphire Creations Dance Company with Dipannita Acharya, Chandrima Bhattacharya and Joy Sankar

Gyan Manch, 6:30 pm

Young Performers Forum (Dec 12)

Subhadr Akayan, classical vocal and tabla, Kolkata

Mukulita Ganguly, contemporary dance, Kolkata

Debanjali Bandopadhyay, Mohiniyattam, Kolkata

Aheli Dey, contemporary dance, Serampore

Rajnandini Pal, Bharatnatyam/waacking, Kolkata

Jishna Ganguly, Bharatnatyam, USA/Kolkata

Dyuman Das, violin, Kolkata

Shahrin Johry, street form, Singapore

CIMA Art Gallery, 5:30 pm