In Pune today, a classical dancer who is breaking the rules with her trash talk

“I literally put it on my body and it is a messy affair after a point, but don’t we all live with that dirt? We have to use art in a stylised, exaggerated way to say, ‘This is happening’. We all know what is happening around us but art is coming in to make it thought-provoking,” she says. “I have attended awareness programmes on the environment where an expert is constantly talking. I am able to concentrate because the topic really interests me but there are a lot of people who cannot enter the topic. They do not want somebody to only talk,” she adds.

 

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The show is being presented by RRBCEA, Kalasadhak and Poornam Ecovision Foundation. ‘Me and My Trash’, which uses movement, spoken word and songs, was created late last year after Bharadwaj studied her own consumption for a long time. “I saw my concerns coming together with my arts practice. In art, we are responsible for our choreographies and creations. Similarly, we, basically, have to take responsibility for what we consume and how we discard it,” she says.

While classical dancers have highlighted gender rights, social equality and other issues for several years, a number of performers are now working on the environmental threat. “Talking about nature has been an ingrained concept in our stylised forms. Some artists don’t talk about the climate crisis because they feel that they don’t have expertise. I don’t have expertise either. Through my work, I am trying to gain a little more knowledge about developments in the world and add a little bit of these into the next show,” she says.

It is the news that educates and, often, disturbs her. “Recently, I read a study about the shocking places where plastic is found. One is the placenta of a mother and they also found plastic in clouds. These are not places where trash should be,” she says.

‘Me & My Trash’ by Preethi Bharadwaj will be showcased on 24th February at 4.30 pm at RRBCEA, Empress Garden, Pune.