Svaha!

Produced by Nova Dance in partnership with Citadel + Compagnie, with support from TO Live

TO Live is proud to present the world premiere of Svāhā!, a celebration of dance as a revitalizing ritual that brings us closer together. Created by award-winning choreographer Nova Bhattacharya and inspired by women and the act of gathering, Svāhā! embodies the transformative power of dance, expressing the uniqueness of the individual and the value of community.

With a cast of over 20 dancers whose practices reflect a diversity of dance forms, Svāhā! brings differences together in a collage of moving images, offering metaphors for collaboration and care. Dance, recitation, pulsating rhythms, and intense emotions are performed with passion and precision. The work is an oblation of movement, music, colours, and sensations. Dancers surrender themselves entirely to sparking the imagination; to savouring a range of thoughts and sensations through movement; to creating rhythm with their entire beings; and to being at home within themselves while connecting to each other.

Taking the dancers and audience on a shared journey to something beyond themselves while oscillating between known and unknown and revelling in simplicity and embracing complexity, Svāhā! asks “how can we be better together?” as we dance from a place of parity, celebration, and collective wonder.

Svāhā! will feature a cast of women (including Bhattacharya) with music composed by virtuoso tabla player Ed Hanley. Also featuring the North Indian and Afro-Latin driven sounds of DJ Gurtej Hunjan, lighting design by Simon Rossiter, and costumes by award-winning designer Sage Paul.