Sutrajāl: Revelations of Gossamer

World Premiere: SEPTEMBER 20, 2019, The O’SHAUGHNESSY AT ST. CATHERINE UNIVERSITY (ST. pAUL, MN)

Sutrajāl is set in the Broken City, once inhabited by a vibrant range of people whose dreams and desires now languish on its streets. This city, crushed down by the recently constructed Shiny City, once hosted GloFFUC, the Global Feminist Funk Underground Club, cherished by communities of women and femmes from across the world, who gathered there at night to dance off their frustrations and returned to their struggles the next morning. The Poet wanders these haunted streets, trying to learn the histories of a disappeared community so she might connect past and future. Gradually, the relationships among these ghosts are revealed to be like gossamer, fine, silky, yet strong, and webbed through multiple layers, like a spider web.

Running Time: 90 minutes, without intermission

Concept & Choreography

Ananya Chatterjea

direction & scenography

Marcus Young

dramaturg

Sharon Bridgforth

costume/make-up/hair design

Rex Rajavairan

costume construction

Linnae Enockson

INSTRUMENTAL AND VOCAL MUSICIANS FEATURE IN RECORDED SCORE

Shubha Mudgal (vocal)
Murad Ali (sarangi)
Chris Powell (acoustic guitar, additional percussion)
Brennon Denfer (bass guitar)
Aneesh Pradhan (tabla, percussion)
Pratap Rath (additional percussion)

COMPOSER/SOUND DESIGNER/INSTRUMENTALIST

Renée Copeland (vocals, silver flute, double-reed wooden flute, bamboo flute, melodica, alto-saxophone, mbira, gongs, pakawaj, electric guitar, ukulele, midi-keyboard electronic instruments, found objects)

VIDEO DOCUMENTATION & PRODUCTION

Darren Johnson
Northern Dawn Media

performers

Maija Brown
Tillana Chakraborti
Ananya Chatterjea
Kenna-Camara Cottman
Beverly Cottman
Shannon Gibney
Alpa Goswami
Shalini Gupta
Jerika Robinson Johnstone
Gina Kundan
Sophronia Liu
Karen HeaChung Lyu
Neelam Malhotra
Lela Pierce
Srija Sen
Mika Shiozawa
Ruchika Singhal
Stefania Strowder
Chitra Vairavan
Pramila Vasudevan
Hui Niu Wilcox
Kayva Yang

Resources

Previous
Previous

Dastak: I Wish You Me (2021)

Next
Next

Shaatranga: Women Weaving Worlds (2018)