L-INKED (WORKING TITLE) -
10/19

Pre-phase to residency: The concept was initiated in Linz in June 2016 as a 8 minute guest performance in a theater stueck “The Bridge Project” by Lonesome George Productions, at Theater Phoenix Linz. The second phase took place in Vienna in December 2018 as a 15 minute solo performance version under the evening “A Thousand Masculinities” organized by Philosophy Unbound, at Das Spritzer- Odeon, Wien. Concept: Labelled-unlabeled, boxed-not boxed, white and black, male and female, good and bad; the performance focuses on the act of conscious and unconscious labelling, due to the strict criteria’s available in our knowledge of words to prejudice and stereotype people. Concept for Residency: I question and thereby would like to research on how a sexual being can be defined male or female and how due to the strict criteria’s available in our knowledge of words, we consciously and unconsciously label to prejudice and stereotype people. I would like to further research in making a performance that aims to foster openness in the society to find the respect in different definitions of each individual in gender and sexuality. I want to research the “roles” and go beyond the “role” of a gendered individual. I want to research in myself the boundaries to understand my own definitions of gender and sexuality I have created, as I believe that the definition an individual has, it is created for and by their own selves. I would like to propose a respectful attitude towards the other individual’s pre-occupations when someone does not fall in “my” definition, as the definition of the other is equally important for the other as the mine is for my own self. Basing myself from the Indian mythology of gender diffusion with Shiva Shakti and Adi shakti, I see love and desire as genderless. It is related to what the mythology calls Universal energy as “Shakti”. It is an energy which is without form, it is neither good nor bad, it had no gender, it is a “shakti” i.e. power. Shakti is dynamic energy that is responsible for creation, maintenance, and destruction of the universe. It is identified as female energy because shakti is responsible for creation, as mothers are responsible for birth. The one who meditates upon this energy, has a choice of choosing what the individual wants to do with the energy, it is the core strength of the organisms living in the Universe. It is the Universal energy, the zero, or the null point. The mother of this shakti is adi shakti and the father is shiva shakti. Durga, the form of adi shakti is in Shiva and the Shiva is in Durga. They are together in balance.

I want to find the shakti inside me. I want to find the Shiva shakti and Adi shakti in me. I want to find the balance between my two sides of the Shakti. I want to find balance between how my real self is and how I think I see myself. To find the balance between all my different sides. Find the balance of my “male” side and my “female” sides, depending upon what I call as male and what I call as female. I want to find the balance in my trance and trance in my balance. To find the in-between, where there is no definition, where I feel safe, where my home is. Am I in balance with my desire? Desire for me has no form. Desire does not have any gender or any body in itself. The desire of love is gender fluid. The desire does not always mean I want to have sex with you. Desire does not see any other definitions or blocks, it just desires. I want to feel that desire. I want to feel it through the dance. Dance for me, is a moment of trance. It is the enjoyment and the fun I have with myself. I can express all my perspectives of different emotions through my dance. I like to dance the stillness, dance with closed eyes, dance the learned seduction. I like to dance what I am in the moment. What do I feel with myself or with someone else in the moment. I still ask how important is the spiritual connection between people and where does the body becomes one limit? How undefined can I be in the bodily human or how can I let my spirit enjoy the borders of my body? Who decides the border, where is the line? I want to research how much influence is on the psychology of an individual in respect with how people see that individual through the notion of sexuality and gender? What happens when the “spiritual” self and the “bodily” self combine? Which part of the self is my identity? How is my body related to the aesthetical heart or the soul? Robert Steijn became interested in working on the solo, because of the difference between the inner and outer reflection about gender diffusion.

He writes: “I have the feeling that there is a clear division between how we define ourselves in relation to people, and how we define ourselves when we go inward.. How I relate to people seems to be mostly ruled by social conventions, ideologies, and categories. For instance, I am white, sixty, have mostly a gay sex practice, i am cosmopolitan by profession etc. etc. You can describe me by clear definitions and in my behavior I can play with them. How I define myself when I go inward, when I go for instance into meditation or trance, clear gender categories disappear, my body and mind, becomes a mystery, every clear definition seems to be inadequate. I would love to explore and discover the beauty of gender diffusion, of a sexuality that has not prescribed roles or positions.For instance I love to explore the sexuality of shiva, to have an erection in meditation, eyes shut, so in a situation not to go into the play of seduction and at the same time exploring sexual ecstasy. Can we dance this ecstatic state of body and mind? Is dance a tool to seduce, to stir up illusions and make beliefs for the spectator- I dance feminine, but am I a woman? Or is dance a cosmic creation, a dance of shiva, in a ring of fire. I can imagine that in your solo, you can explore both approaches of dance, the dance of seduction, and the dance of the discovery of the self. I felt always that seduction had to do with a game of power. The one who seduces is in power, tries to capture the other into a web of lust, even addiction. Lately I read a much more positive, and very inspiring definition of seduction: to seduce is to share your beauty with another. I like this word sharing, because it says that you also enjoy your own beauty, instead of using it as a tool to overpower the other.” Why this collaboration? When Robert Steijn thinks of my solo, he thinks we must also go beyond discussing the categories of the system, and explore the undefined desire and satisfaction in our own body/mind. Our collaboration will be a discussion about different approaches towards the body on state,varying from stand-up comedian till looking for the intangible and spiritual dimension of dance. Robert has a long career in advising choreographers making their own solo. I feel him the right person as a sparring partner in this project. The residency will be completed with a showing and a panel discussion with the audience about the “Sexuality, gender and desire in the contemporary world”, where Robert Steijn and I would be a part of it.

> Team:

Concept, Choreographer and Performer: Jaskaran Anand (AT/IND) Dramaturgy: Robert Steijn (AMS/MX) Music: Renu Hoessain (UK/IND/GE), Britney Spears, Robin Thicke Performance supported by: RedSapata Linz The showing is followed by a talk with Robert Steijn : „How to define a sexual being?“ on 09.10 at 19:15H performance time. under the evening of Altered Affairs organized by Karin Harraser (Kunst university), VALIE EXPORT, Martha Wilson, Julia Scher, Marie-Luise Angerer, Golden Pixel Cooperative.