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Max Mueller Bhavan | India Pune

|

4:00 PM, IST

Thank You for your Visit

Dance Performance|A contemporary dance performance for both no-sighted and sighted audience

  • The Box , Pune

  • Mixed
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TYFYV Banner © Goethe-Institut Pune

Where does it enter from?
Where does it stay?
How does it leave you?
Has it left you?

"Thank You for Your Visit | Danke für Ihren Besuch" is a contemporary dance work by Indian artists Damini Gairola and Maitreyee Joshi. Created during theLimited Editionresidency at the K3 Centre for Choreography Hamburg (2022), the performance addresses collective grief, accessibility and inclusivity. It was designed for audiences with and without visual impairments, incorporating integrated Audio Description to enhance accessibility. The work emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic, exploring the metaphor of the ‘trickster’—the pandemic itself—as a force that disrupted life and forced society to confront its fragility.
The piece combines contemporary dance, theatre practices, access dramaturgy and audience participation to create an immersive experience focused on communal grief. It invites viewers to interact with performers and engage in an emotional journey, blending private sorrow with collective expression. The performance challenges traditional concepts of dance and audience interaction, asks questions about loss and healing and creates a space for a communal as well as internal dialogue. The audience, seated in a circle, becomes part of the performance, blurring the lines between observer and participant. The work prompts reflection on personal and collective loss, while addressing the ongoing presence of the ‘trickster’—manifesting in wars, climate disasters and social crises. The minimalist set, ambient soundscapes, tactile props, expertise and advice of a blind Indian collaborator (Dominic) for the Indian re-staging of the work, aims to deepen the exploration of inclusivity and accessibility.
Maitreyee and Damini were mentored for this project under Ursina Tossi, who helped develop an integrated Audio description alongside the creation of the piece. Interaction with experts like Naomi Sanfo, Sophia Neises and Nicole Meyer helped them to develop a piece that was sensory rich and creatively inclusive, exploring the aesthetics of access in dance.

Today, the trickster remains, only changing its form and tactics prevalent in th form of a wave of global crisis and grief. This ongoing project is an exploration of how we process grief together, with the central question being whether we resist or embrace the forces that challenge us to change. The piece will be performed at The Box, Pune on 13th March, 2025.

Additionally, Maitreyee and Damini will also offer workshops and integration experiences as a part of the tour.

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TYFYV 1 © Öncü Gültekin

TYFYV 2 © Öncü Gültekin

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About the artists

  • Damini Gairola is a performer, maker and teacher from India. Coming from a history of various educations including dance, she has an inquisitive, analytical and socio-political lens into dancing. She has worked as a freelance dance artist in Germany and has been an ensemble member at the Swedish Contemporary Dance Company, Norrdans 2022-24. “Thank you for Your Visit | Danke für Ihren Besuch" (2022) is her maiden collaborative work co-choreographed withMaitreyeeJoshi and co-produced with K3 | Tanzplan Hamburg at its inception. She is invested in working towards practising inclusive approaches within the arts, ways to incorporate multi-sensory elements into her primary area of work, dance and continue to engage with dance as a medium for dialog and transformation. Alongside a community of artists across Germany and India, she actively researches integrated Audio Description for Dance productions.

  • Maitreyee is a contemporary dancer, choreographer, and performer with a diverse artistic background. She trained in Kathak for seven years and Latin American dance styles for three years before earning a diploma with honors in Movement Arts and Mixed Media from the Attakkalari
    Centre for Movement Arts in 2018. A co-founder of Citizens of Stage and a member of 678 Co-Lab, Maitreyee explores the intersection of dance and theatre, focusing on themes of identity, wildness, and accessibility.

    As faculty at Symbiosis School of Liberal Arts, she teaches dance and theatre, blending her rich training and professional expertise to inspire students. Her notable works include GOAT: Grotesque
    Of All Time, Raanti, and Thank You for Your Visit | Danke für Ihren Besuch, which address societal norms and collective grief through inclusivity. Maitreyee’s practice is guided by principles of fluidity and presence, fostering impactful performance, research, and community engagement.
     

  • Aabha Soumitra is a composer, vocalist, and choir conductor from Pune, India, working across film, theater, and choir music. Trained in Hindustani classical voice technique, she blends folk, World music, and cinematic styles. Aabha founded “Ensemble Sahanad” in 2021, Pune’s first experimental choir, and co-founded “Composing in Dialogue” and “Peace Projects.” Her music is known for its emotional depth, technical skill, and its evocative texture.