RAAKSHAS: A BAD TIME FOR GODS
2024 / 20:00 MINUTES / WORK IN PROGRESS
Inspired by Neil Gaiman’s novel American Gods, Raakshas, A Bad Time For Gods is a captivating multidisciplinary performance conceived and performed entirely by Roger Sinha. In a dramatic and mystical visual atmosphere, Raakshas, an entity representing the ancient gods, conveys messages about the current state of the world through his many talents. He skilfully plays didjeridoo, RAV drum, percussion and uses his voice for vocal explorations and spoken texts, creating an immersive sound score.
In this new solo, Roger Sinha adopts a unique creative process combining dance, music, spoken word and sound design, mostly based on randomness and improvisation. This piece embodies the essence of DIY (Do It Yourself) art, his original texts add substance, reflecting on the dominance of technology and social networks in our society. Using Ableton music software, he loops his music live, creating a rich sonic backdrop over which he then improvises dance movements. Dressed in a costume created by Lyne Beaulieu, Cirque du Soleil’s official mask maker for over 15 years, the renowned choreographer transforms himself into this unique character, dark, strange and gothic.
ABOUT THE CREATORS
ROGER SINHA
ORIGINAL CONCEPT & CHOREOGRAPHY
Roger Sinha is a Montreal-based multi-award winning choreographer, dancer and artistic director. With 35 years of artistic career and more than twenty major pieces to its credit, Roger Sinha’s work stands out for its unrivalled blend of contemporary dance, classical Indian dance, martial arts, live music and new technologies. Recently, he was awarded a dancers transitions parallel training grant to study music and the Abelton music softwares which has helped him pursue new artistic horizons. Full biography here.
LYNE BEAULIEU
COSTUME
Lyne Beaulieu is a Montreal-based milliner with over twenty-five years of experience. She worked for Cirque du Soleil for fifteen years, which gave her the opportunity to collaborate with many great costume designers, locally and internationally, on major projects. She then went on to become self-employed, designing and making headdresses for the performing arts, circus, dance, theater, film and special events around the world. With her keen sense of aesthetics, her expertise and her great curiosity, she’s involved in many other artistic fields, such as mask-making, accessories of all kinds, jewelry, clothing, costumes and anything else that can be manufactured.
CREDITS
CONCEPT AND CHOREOGRAPHY Roger Sinha
MUSIC BY Roger Sinha
TEXTS BY Roger Sinha
COSTUME Lyne Beaulieu
PHOTO Damian Siqueiros
PHOTO GALLERY Remi Hermoso
Special thanks to the Dancers Transition Centre Parallel Training Grant, Melanie Frisoli for her knowledge and teaching of the Ableton Music Software, Dae Courtney for initial sound explorations, and Eryn Dace Trudell for her artistic directions.