Aham | mahA
Aham | mahA is an expression of movement and music to experience the subtle and intangible energy flow of Lord Shiva and Shakti through Barkha, through all of us.
Aham | mahA is a solo performance of two works: Soham Har Damru and Ramti Aave. The works are performed to both live and recorded music in both traditional and contemporary kathak.
Soham Har Damru is a stuti or invocation to Lord Shiva and his creative energy which manifests the world through the sound of his drum or damru.
Ramti Aave or Her Playful Arrival explores surrendering to Kali's playfully destructive power to access the erotic. This work is inspired by the insights of the erotic by poet, author, and activist Audre Lorde.
The Sanskrit language lends itself to mystical-philosophical speculation on letters, words, and sentences which help us understand this reflective existence. One such word is AHAM (A-HA-M). The A represents Shiva Consciousness, the HA represents the power of Shakti, and the M represents Nara which is all of mankind. AHAM then is the flowing nature of Shiva consciousness, by the grace of his inherent Shakti, to the whole of manifested reality in the form of differentiated identities. This is the essence of who we all are. Similarly, if we send the word AHAM through a reflective glass, we get the word MAHA. MA-HA-A then is the flow of consciousness moving from Nara, through Shakti, back to Shiva.
This work has been presented at venues such as 92NY, Chelsea Factory, and has received support from the New York State Dance Force to tour western NY to venues such as Reg Lenna Center, Rochester University, 171 Cedar Arts.
Production Credits List:
Performer/Choreographer: barkha patel
*Several traditional compositions danced in this work have been taught to barkha by Guru Rachna Sarang, Swati Sinha, Dheerendra Tiwari
Vocalist: Shweta Pandya
Tabla: Mike Lukshis
Sarangi: rohan misra
Light Design: barkha patel
Costume: barkha patel, Nikita Shah, & Rakesh Parmar
Composition: barkha patel & Shweta Pandya