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BLOG: unstuck in space

For my Fulbright Student Research grant, I am documenting two traditional Nepalese dance-drama forms.

The first dance, Ghatu, is a Gurung cultural practice lasting for five days that tells the story of an ancient King Parsuram and Queen Yambawati. Few Gurung societies still perform this complex and mesmerizing dance, though it is both a form of community entertainment and an annual process of respecting their gods.

The second dance, Mani Rimdu, is a Tibetan-Sherpa masked dance that takes place at the end of the annual fifteen-day Mani Rimdu ritual, conducted to celebrate the beginning of Buddhism and for the wellness of the world. This festival was brought from Rongpuk Monastery in Tibet but is now only practiced in the Solu-Khumbu region.

I will first document the performance details and techniques of these two fading art forms, and then explore how they might impact contemporary theatre and storytelling practices. Through creative, practical research in a rehearsal room with a small group of Kathmandu-based actors, I hope to develop an original theatre piece that showcases and derives inspiration from Ghatu and Mani Rimdu.

Unstuck in Space

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