“Staged in six acts centered on palpable engagement, Alekhya: Spilling Ink takes the audience on a journey through raw emotion, a trembling struggle to connect with the divine through art. More than dance, it is a celebration of the senses, an awakening that revels in a yogic mindfulness where art links the physical and spiritual planes. From tactile allusions to the velvet of lotus flowers to saliva induced on the tongue by a reference to saffron and sugar, the entire performance overtakes the audience, compelling them to paint, to sing, to dance, to feel.”
Alekhya: Spilling Ink is a performance-based project that is centered on the notions of creativity in spirituality, and spirituality in creativity. Based in the classical South Indian Bharatanatyam dance form, dancers explore the idea of self in a choreographic process that responds to poetry—lyrics set to classical South Indian Carnatic music—a give and take that departs from an exploration that might otherwise remain in traditional interpretation and depiction. We seek ways to create conversations about the religious/spiritual components of the classical Indian arts. Spiritual awakening or realization can manifest in several ways. For some it may be the reenactment of mythology and folklore. But for us, it is the opportunity to ‘speak with God’ through the art forms. And with that intent, we have created the pieces in this project.
“For its 10th anniversary the Spilling Ink organization presented a small ensemble, six dancers, in a work which explored ideas about prayer. Remarkable discipline and coordination were displayed by the cast in this ritual which lasted and lasted.”
“The Gayathri manthra and other chants and the ‘Letter to God’ within this piece were seamlessly woven into the beautiful tapestry of emotion. The varnam ended as it had begun with the dancers seated in a circle with arms raised in prayer and supplication. It was simple but eloquently contemplative.”
Funded in part by the D.C. Commission on the Arts & Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Spilling Ink received a Dance Place Space Grant in support of the creation of Alekhya: Spilling Ink and its performances.