Taking the Natyashastra as the point of departure, the lecture delves into two performative practices of northern India - Ramnagar ki Ramleela and Tawaif’s artistry - which are embedded and intermeshed in the histories, geographies and the religions of the land and thus embodied (consciously/subconsciously) in its people.

‘Umrao&Me’ is an innovative lecture performance in which the artist shares personal letters written by her to Umrao Jaan - the legendary 19th century ‘tawaif’ performer (courtesan) from the then undivided India. De-exoticizing traditional eastern narratives & discourses and deconstructing variegated expressions of broad prejudices; the lecture unpacks plural accounts of marginalisation, effects of colonialism, patriarchal society, body shaming, male gaze, morality, censorship and politics in the arts. 

Duration: 40 minutes

Script & Performance: Nikita Maheshwary
Dramaturgy: Paul de Bruyne

Circus Performance ‘Somehow’ by Mar Olive and Rogier Hornman.

Circus Performance CIE SEA - Il en fallait Deux by Andrea & Elodie

‘Umrao&Me’ is an innovative lecture performance in which the artist shares personal letters written by her to Umrao Jaan - the legendary 19th century ‘tawaif’ performer (courtesan) from the then undivided India. De-exoticizing traditional eastern narratives & discourses and deconstructing variegated expressions of broad prejudices; the lecture unpacks plural accounts of marginalisation, effects of colonialism, patriarchal society, body shaming, male gaze, morality, censorship and politics in the arts. 

Duration: 40 minutes

Script & Performance: Nikita Maheshwary
Dramaturgy: Paul de Bruyne

‘Umrao&Me’ is an innovative lecture performance in which the artist shares personal letters written by her to Umrao Jaan - the legendary 19th century ‘tawaif’ performer (courtesan) from the then undivided India. De-exoticizing traditional eastern narratives & discourses and deconstructing variegated expressions of broad prejudices; the lecture unpacks plural accounts of marginalisation, effects of colonialism, patriarchal society, body shaming, male gaze, morality, censorship and politics in the arts. 

Duration: 40 minutes

Script & Performance: Nikita Maheshwary
Dramaturgy: Paul de Bruyne

‘Umrao&Me’ is an innovative lecture performance in which the artist shares personal letters written by her to Umrao Jaan - the legendary 19th century ‘tawaif’ performer (courtesan) from the then undivided India. De-exoticizing traditional eastern narratives & discourses and deconstructing variegated expressions of broad prejudices; the lecture unpacks plural accounts of marginalisation, effects of colonialism, patriarchal society, body shaming, male gaze, morality, censorship and politics in the arts. 

Duration: 40 minutes

Script & Performance: Nikita Maheshwary
Dramaturgy: Paul de Bruyne

As a part of the {exchange X explore} initiative, ‘Umrao & Me’ is set to be performed at the Shiv Nadar University.

‘Umrao&Me’ is an innovative lecture performance in which the artist shares personal letters written by her to Umrao Jaan - the legendary 19th century ‘tawaif’ performer (courtesan) from the then undivided India. De-exoticizing traditional eastern narratives & discourses and deconstructing variegated expressions of broad prejudices; the lecture unpacks plural accounts of marginalisation, effects of colonialism, patriarchal society, body shaming, male gaze, morality, censorship and politics in the arts. 

Duration: 40 minutes

Script & Performance: Nikita Maheshwary
Dramaturgy: Paul de Bruyne

‘Umrao&Me’ is an innovative lecture performance in which the artist shares personal letters written by her to Umrao Jaan - the legendary 19th century ‘tawaif’ performer (courtesan) from the then undivided India. De-exoticizing traditional eastern narratives & discourses and deconstructing variegated expressions of broad prejudices; the lecture unpacks plural accounts of marginalisation, effects of colonialism, patriarchal society, body shaming, male gaze, morality, censorship and politics in the arts. 

Duration: 40 minutes

Script & Performance: Nikita Maheshwary
Dramaturgy: Paul de Bruyne

‘Umrao&Me’ is an innovative lecture performance in which the artist shares personal letters written by her to Umrao Jaan - the legendary 19th century ‘tawaif’ performer (courtesan) from the then undivided India. De-exoticizing traditional eastern narratives & discourses and deconstructing variegated expressions of broad prejudices; the lecture unpacks plural accounts of marginalisation, effects of colonialism, patriarchal society, body shaming, male gaze, morality, censorship and politics in the arts. 

Duration: 40 minutes

Script & Performance: Nikita Maheshwary
Dramaturgy: Paul de Bruyne

https://issuu.com/korzotheater/docs/korzo-india-2018-programma-issuu

https://vimeo.com/286072637

TUJHKO BANAYA GAYA HAI MERE LIYE
Duration : 20 mins

The piece investigates the representation of women in the Indian pop culture. It questions their objectification, the handed down warped codes of romance and the glorification of sexism in the mainstream that masquerades itself, sometimes as an innocent joke or gets etched in our heads as a catchy item song.

Set on the timeless, iconic romantic nazam from the 1976 Bollywood movie ‘Kabhi-Kabhi’, the piece borrows the movement vocabulary from the popular cultural image of a female and male body. It attempts to capture the varied gender equations, the society’s innate permissiveness towards the quintessential ‘chedkhani’ or eve-teasing and how this collective tolerance propagates and contributes to gender-related violence.

Direction: Nikita Maheshwary
Process Collaborators & Performers: Mahesh Saini & Nikita Maheshwary

A short performance work as a part of the lecture presentation ‘Damming the Narmada: Development or Dispossession’ at Ambedkar University, Delhi.

Kathakali Performance - Purupad

TUJHKO BANAYA GAYA HAI MERE LIYE
Duration : 20 mins

The piece investigates the representation of women in the Indian pop culture. It questions their objectification, the handed down warped codes of romance and the glorification of sexism in the mainstream that masquerades itself, sometimes as an innocent joke or gets etched in our heads as a catchy item song.

Set on the timeless, iconic romantic nazam from the 1976 Bollywood movie ‘Kabhi-Kabhi’, the piece borrows the movement vocabulary from the popular cultural image of a female and male body. It attempts to capture the varied gender equations, the society’s innate permissiveness towards the quintessential ‘chedkhani’ or eve-teasing and how this collective tolerance propagates and contributes to gender-related violence.

Direction: Nikita Maheshwary
Process Collaborators & Performers: Mahesh Saini & Nikita Maheshwary

TUJHKO BANAYA GAYA HAI MERE LIYE
Duration : 20 mins

The piece investigates the representation of women in the Indian pop culture. It questions their objectification, the handed down warped codes of romance and the glorification of sexism in the mainstream that masquerades itself, sometimes as an innocent joke or gets etched in our heads as a catchy item song.

Set on the timeless, iconic romantic nazam from the 1976 Bollywood movie ‘Kabhi-Kabhi’, the piece borrows the movement vocabulary from the popular cultural image of a female and male body. It attempts to capture the varied gender equations, the society’s innate permissiveness towards the quintessential ‘chedkhani’ or eve-teasing and how this collective tolerance propagates and contributes to gender-related violence.

Direction: Nikita Maheshwary
Process Collaborators & Performers: Mahesh Saini & Nikita Maheshwary

TUJHKO BANAYA GAYA HAI MERE LIYE
Duration : 20 mins

The piece investigates the representation of women in the Indian pop culture. It questions their objectification, the handed down warped codes of romance and the glorification of sexism in the mainstream that masquerades itself, sometimes as an innocent joke or gets etched in our heads as a catchy item song.

Set on the timeless, iconic romantic nazam from the 1976 Bollywood movie ‘Kabhi-Kabhi’, the piece borrows the movement vocabulary from the popular cultural image of a female and male body. It attempts to capture the varied gender equations, the society’s innate permissiveness towards the quintessential ‘chedkhani’ or eve-teasing and how this collective tolerance propagates and contributes to gender-related violence.

Direction: Nikita Maheshwary
Process Collaborators & Performers: Mahesh Saini & Nikita Maheshwary