On January 15, the Glenburn Penthouse played host to “How the Body Celebrates”, the second edition of the Artist Diaries series on January 15, presented by the Glenburn Culture Club, Pickle Factory Dance Foundation, and Artsforward, with My Kolkata as digital partner. The evening spotlighted contemporary dancer Aseng Borang from Roing, Arunachal Pradesh, whose artistry explores the intersections of body, landscape and nature
Photos: Amit Pramanik
A recipient of the Prakriti Excellence Contemporary Dance Award 2018 for ‘The Chinky Express Comes to Town’, Borang (pictured with the organisers) has performed in Paris, London and at the Serendipity Arts Festival in Goa. Her work delves into themes of ‘othering’ and ‘endurance’, with movement serving as her chosen language. Borang’s connection with Kolkata began during Saraswati Puja in 2023, when she witnessed marginalised youth dancing uninhibitedly on the streets, embodying pure joy
Opening the evening, Borang remarked on her aversion to jargon-filled biographies, preferring to introduce herself organically. She began her performance by spinning for over five minutes, evoking the Turkish whirling dervishes. “I like to test the patience of a spectator,” she shared, referencing her slow, repetitive style that often builds gradually, as seen in one of her works divided into four seven-minute sections of repeated movements
The evening’s highlight was a preview of Borang’s ongoing collaboration with Swiss dancer Johanna Heusser. This project examines how movement can dissolve societal norms, intersecting ritual, celebration and human experience. Drawing from traditional festivals, Borang lamented how modernity has stripped these rituals of their organic essence: “Festivals used to be tied to nature — waiting for migratory birds or seasonal changes. Now, they’re standardised, a way to escape the harsh realities of life.”
