Dancing to the tunes of capitalism and consumerism

Deepanwita Roy’s upcoming production What’s Going On Here? is an attempt to highlight the effects of rampant capitalism and consumerism on natural resources

“We are using too much of everything,” says Deepanwita Roy, a contemporary dancer, choreographer, video maker and movement educator, who shuttles between Bengaluru and Siliguri. Her upcoming production, What’s Going On Here? is an attempt to highlight the effects of rampant capitalism and consumerism on our natural resources.

According to the event’s release, this performance, which was developed as part of Roy’s bangaloREsidency-Expanded at WeltKunstZimmer, Düsseldorf in 2022, delves into the impact of over-exploitation and wastage of natural resources on the environment and how our choices as invaders, capitalists and consumers affect the planet.

“Human action is leading to an environmental crisis,” she says, of the production that seeks to be an immersive experience questioning human beings’ impact on nature. “We keep invading land, water, even space. We don’t need it, but we keep doing it,” says Roy, adding that the idea for this piece germinated in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

She was in her hometown, Siliguri, back then, she remembers. “The lockdown had forced us to be indoors, and we were trying to control this virus,” she says. “It made me think about what we were doing to this world,” says Roy, who has collaborated with dancers Purnendra Meshram and Pradeep Gupta to create this piece. “The three of us have all added our inputs into this project,” she says. “That is how it came into being.”

While the performance will debut at the Max Mueller Bhavan Bangalore, she hopes to take this production to public spaces. “When I thought about this piece, I also wondered who the audience would be,” she says, adding that it is important to acknowledge how we, as a group of human beings, can take care of this space. “I hope in the future we will be able to take this to a wider audience.”

What’s Going On Here? will be held on Saturday, July 29 at the Max Mueller Bhavan Bangalore at 6 pm. Entry is free.