Abhilash Ningappa, Founder and Artistic Director of Play Practice Artists Residency (INDIA), born and based in India. Recognised as performer, choreographer and teacher both nationally and internationally. He post graduated in SEAD (Salzburg) and Post Masters in APASS (Advanced performance and scenography studies) (Belgium) . A yoga practitioner and a martial art teacher, trained in kalari payattu and contemporary dance.
He won Pecda award for “Architect of Self Destruction” He has taught in many studios across the world and choreographed works and collaborated with artists. He also taught Story Boarding workshops and “Embodying critical situation” an intensive movement practice based on the principles of martial arts. He teachers also Improvisation and composition workshops focussed on performance as a practice.
He has been organising Play Practice Apprenticeship program and Yoga Practice teachers training program for the past 5 years. In 2019 he launched the first Fight Practice martial arts workshop and also organises yearly residencies for artists in India
CHOREOGRAPHER / COLLABORATION
Lets Make Up India : with Eva Maria Kupfer (Switzerland)
Disposable Heroes : with Bangalore Dance Collective (India).
Troubled Duet : in Bangalore international dance festival (India)
Life Unedited : lecture performance in Alkantara (Lisbon)
Pro Choreo Laboratory : With Tanzhouse(Zurich)
15 Pieces : with Daniel kok , performed 15 solos at Alkantara dance festival
Architect of Self Destruction : Pecda Awards , India Tour.
Fall Back: with Battery Dance festival : New York , US
No Speaking Solo : Isadora Dance Festival : Russia
Too Far East Is West : with Ana Jezabel , Nicola Fabiana and Carla Guida Johnson
Persistence of Being : Students of Masters program at Ambedkar University
COUNTRIES/STUDIOS
Belgium : Parts Residency, Artists Commons, Company Thor-Thierry Smits, Artesis
Germany : TanzFabrik, MaraMeo, Dock11, Freiburg contact festival, Tanzfactor
Prague : Dance Perfect and ALTA
Hong Kong : I-Dance Festival
Spain : Nunart, Lacaldera, Dansehotel, Ibiza Movement and performance,
Canada: Love-In
US: Hofstra University(New York) and Brown University (Providence)
Poland : Warsaw Dance Department and teatr tańca zawirowania
Denmark: Dansehallerne and Tinkuy Studios
Italy : Spazio Franco (Palermo)
Dublin: Rex Levitates Dance Company, Irish Modern Dance theatre, Crux Dance Theatre
CHOREOGRAPHERS/MENTORS
Constanza Macras : "Back to the present" and " The past” India Tour
Katie Duck : Freakatoni” Improvisation Summer performances in Amsterdam.
Tania Carvalho : “Icosahedron” performance tour in various venues in Europe.
Liz Roche : Rex levitates Dance Company
John Scott : Irish Modern Dance theatre (Ireland)
Willie Dorner : ”Bodies in urban spaces" by Willie Dorner
Ka fai : “what i think about when i think about dancing” in Attakkalari Festival, Bangalore
Nuni Lazaga : "To dream or not to dream” Gati Dance Festival, New Delhi.
Michael Keleminis: “Abhilash and Caroline” India Tour
Ana Macrae: Sead , Salzburg
Jonathan Burrows : Mentor at Dancewebeurope scholarship program
Reinhild Hoffman: Mentor at Pro Choreo Laboratory : Zurich
Nancy Stark Smith : Mentor at Arlequi , Girona , Spain
Bart Van den Eynde : Mentor during Advanced performance and scenography studies
Brussels Workshop
Abhilash Ningappa
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NUNART Workshop(Barcelona)
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Dansehallerne(Copenhagen)
Abhilash Ningappa
Workshop
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EMBODYING CRITICAL SITUATION
(Improvisation and Composition workshop)
His workshop is focused on Improvisation based on Martial arts principles. He invented method and practices where dancers make choice and explore the possibilities through composition. recovering and revisiting movements through creative choices and creating possibilities to create a performance. There is a warmup session which leads into various movement practices influenced by martial arts and contemporary dance. leading towards improvisation practice.
His research focusses on sensorial perceptions and its relation with early life and memories. His Workshop is focused on fundamentals like breath, speed and energy, involving the core structure of the body influenced by different methods of kalari payattu and other martial arts combined, focusing mainly on dancers relationship with the space and the people around.
The practice is about identifying our way of expressing into certain situations like a moment of confrontation, dealing ,accepting and mainly reacting. Inventing a score to create an incident and let the body react and mind follows and other way around. Using senses to provoke emotions created through incidents. Identifying the space filled with accumulated information through movement and research.
We experience reaction through various tasks and scores, to disengage mind from body and observing the reaction of body, recollecting or replaying the incident and to identify it with a new perspective, the new is nothing but a combination of various memories played in different time and space which is changing and passing every moment. Bringing feeling and letting the body occupy and transfer, letting it pass in order to give space for the next incident. Running from incident to incident, going through different emotional state, identifying the presence and absence, and identifying the state of mind and body through these different emotional state.