Eleven, twelve, thirteen
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SLDC's project 'Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen' premiered at Oxford's Offbeat festival in June 2019 and is an exciting collaboration between some of UK's finest British Asian talent across various art forms:
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classical Kathak (Indian) dance
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spoken word poetry
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Western and British Asian music
'Eleven, twelve, thirteen' explores the significance of numbers in our lives. We commonly acknowledge the importance of words in our everyday but this artistic exploration will look at how numbers, usually only associated with black and white facts, can narrate their own, equally expressive and evocative fiction in a multitude of colours .
Focussing on the numbers 11, 12 and 13, the production will take us on a journey from the significance of the number 11 in the world around us through to the iconic era of the Sufis during the 1200s and a lighthearted exploration of the troublesome thirTEENS.
The production comprises a variety of original pieces that innovatively combine dance, music and the spoken word, sprouting novel collaborations between young British Asian artists across genres. With this unique ethos at its heart, 'Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen' promises to be a show that is even more exciting than the sum of all its parts.
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for touring opportunities at your venue
"Numbers are all around us, in everything we do. My husband is a trader and I am a chartered accountant so we deal with numbers in our corporate work. But numbers are also very important in my artistic pursuits of Kathak (Indian classical dance), albeit very differently and in all our lives more broadly.
Through this exciting new show, we are creatively exploring how we all connect with numbers, whether as dates that we cannot forget, in history recent and ancient, or as marking our age and stage in life."
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- Sonia Chandaria Tillu, Artistic Director
The performers
Sonia Chandaria-Tillu has been dancing from a young age and since 2010, formally training in Kathak (Indian dance) under Sujata Banerjee. She set up her own dance company in 2018 and regularly performs across the UK and internationally. She is currently working on a number of solo commissions.
Avi Tillu is a budding, London-based poet and public speaker, who draws inspiration from his varied experiences as a trader, a traveller and a triathlete. He has presented work in London, Dublin, Oxford and Amsterdam
Vibs is a young, and upcoming Birmingham-based Brit Indian artist. Trained in Indian classical music, she plays the guitar and sings in Hindi, Punjabi and English. Actively involved in music projects internationally, she aspires to use music to bring people together.
Jaina Modasia is a classically trained Kathak dancer based in London. In addition to regularly performing and teaching Kathak, she also leads Bollywood workshops. Jaina has twice qualified as category finalist in the South Asian category of the BBC Young Dancer competition.
Aman Grover is a public speaker and spoken word poet based in West London. His poetry, which explores British-Indian youth identity and culture, has seen him perform at Dishoom's Diwali Celebration and the prestigious Asia House Poetry Slam.
Serena Nagh is a spoken word artist
who takes inspiration from Sufi-era poetry spanning from Jalalludin Rumi and Rabia-al-Basri to modern-day storytellers like George the Poet.
Her work sits somewhere in between these two worlds, exploring modern issues with a mystical twist.
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