Sapna Govindan

Creating new work in any of the genres of Indian classical dance in the United States is fraught with difficulties such as finding musicians who are experts at accompanying the particular genre of dance through vocal music or supporting instruments. I am working on two new choreographic works in the genre of Mohiniyattam for which original music needs to be created and recorded in order to support performance of these pieces. The seed of these works were planted through the aMaSSiT choreography lab 2024 jointly supported by the Dance Complex and Monkeyhouse. I plan to work with musicians in India - vocalist as well as instrumentalists playing mrudangam (percussion), idakka (percussion), flute or veena (melodic support) and cymbals in creating music for the pieces. The musical scores will need to be recorded in a studio in Kerala, India, where the musicians are located. The lack of experts who are trained in musical support for this genre of dance necessitates this situation.