Restless Natives (2007) is a traveling performance project composed of dance, music, and original and adapted texts starring Denali Degraf and Malavika Mohanan.
Dance is a performing art form consisting of purposefully selected sequences of human movement. This movement has aesthetic and symbolic value, and is acknowledged as dance by performers and observers within a particular culture. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire of movements, or by its historical period or place of origin.
Music is an art form and cultural activity whose medium is sound organized in time. General definitions of music include common elements such as pitch, rhythm, dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture. Different styles or types of music may emphasize, de-emphasize or omit some of these elements. Music is performed with a vast range of instruments and vocal techniques ranging from singing to rapping; there are solely instrumental pieces, solely vocal pieces and pieces that combine singing and instruments. The word derives from Greek μουσική . See glossary of musical terminology.
Malavika Mohanan is an Indian film actress, who has predominantly worked in the Malayalam film industry. She has also appeared in a number of Hindi, Kannada and Tamil films.
The authors claim to be "in search of the intersection between art, resistance, and daily breath."
In their own words "We tell stories to unearth questions, we explore pain to find unity, and we raise our voices in search of the sacred."
As excerpted from their website:
"Malavika Tara Mohanan, trained in Bharatanatyam (a South Indian classical dance form) and theater, also uses elements of flamenco and other traditions to create a language of movement such that the written word can be embodied while spoken. Texts include several original pieces, as well as writings by Emmanuel Ortiz, Howard Zinn, and Roberto Juarroz. Denali DeGraf plays Native American Flutes and Drums (which he also builds), and the charango, a traditional Andean instrument. The music includes an Aztec song for the dead, a Sanskrit chant for wellbeing, and several original instrumental compositions. The project has a 50-min. scripted performance and opens into a circle for all present to share stories and questions.
Bharatanatyam originally known as Sathiraattam(karakattam), is a major genre of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu. Traditionally, Bharatanatyam has been a solo dance performed exclusively by women, and it expressed South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of Shaivism, Vaishnavism and Shaktism.
Emmanuel Ortiz is a Chicano/Puerto Rican/Irish-American activist and spoken-word poet. He has worked with the Minnesota Alliance for the Indigenous Zapatistas (MAIZ) and Estación Libre and as a staff member of the Resource Centre of the Americas. Ortiz has performed his poetry at numerous readings, political rallies, activist conferences, and benefits. His works appeared in The Roots of Terror a reader published by Project South, as well as others. His readings of his poems have appeared on Pacifica Radio’s Democracy Now!. His controversial poem, Moment of Silence, circulated the internet a year after September 11th, 2001.
Howard Zinn was an American historian, playwright, and socialist thinker. He was chair of the history and social sciences department at Spelman College, and a political science professor at Boston University. Zinn wrote over twenty books, including his best-selling and influential A People's History of the United States. In 2007, he published a version of it for younger readers, A Young People's History of the United States.
The name Restless Natives comes out of questions about what it means to be native to a land, to its people. Questions about borders, boundaries, and rules. The search for a balance between, on the one hand, the depth that develops when staying in one place, and, on the other, the expansion of heart and mind that comes with having connections to more than one geographical region, more than one community. A search that comes from a feeling of something not being right with the world, and a deep awareness that there is another way of being, beyond the limits of time, space, and convention. The splinter in the mind that does not allow the complacency that is silent complicity. Restlessness as the opposite of apathy. We turn the tables on the racist imperialism in the phrase, “the natives are restless,” to say, yes, we are the natives, and we’re restless for change, moving towards home."
In biogeography, a species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention. The term is equivalent to the concept of native or autochthonous species. Every wild organism has its own natural range of distribution in which it is regarded as indigenous. Outside this native range, a species may be introduced by human activity, either intentionally or unintentionally; it is then referred to as an introduced species within the regions where it was anthropogenically introduced.
Racism is the belief in the superiority of one race over another, which often results in discrimination and prejudice towards people based on their race or ethnicity. The use of the term "racism" does not easily fall under a single definition.
Imperialism is policy or ideology of extending a nation's rule over foreign nations, often by military force or by gaining political and economic control of other areas. Imperialism was both normal and common worldwide throughout recorded history, the earliest examples dating from the mid-third millennium BC, diminishing only in the late 20th century. In recent times, it has been considered morally reprehensible and prohibited by international law. Therefore, the term is used in international propaganda to denounce an opponent's foreign policy.
West Side Story is a musical with book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. It was inspired by William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet.
Kathakali is one of the major forms of classical Indian dance. It is a "story play" genre of art, but one distinguished by the elaborately colorful make-up, costumes and facemasks that the traditionally male actor-dancers wear. Kathakali is a Hindu performance art in the Malayalam-speaking southwestern region of India (Kerala).
In pre-Columbian Maya civilization, ceremonial dance had great importance. However, since dance is a transient art, it is inherently difficult for archeologists to find and evaluate evidence of its role. There is little material information left behind, beyond a few paintings on murals and vases. This lack of direct evidence leads to several different archaeological interpretations.
Indigenous music of North America, which includes American Indian music or Native American music, is the
music that is used, created or performed by Indigenous peoples of North America, including Native Americans in the United States and Aboriginal peoples in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Mexico, and other North American countries—especially traditional tribal music, such as Pueblo music and Inuit music. In addition to the traditional music of the Native American groups, there now exist pan-tribal and intertribal genres as well as distinct Native American subgenres of popular music including: rock, blues, hip hop, classical, film music, and reggae, as well as unique popular styles like chicken scratch and New Mexico music.
Kathak is the Hindi name for one of the eight major forms of Indian classical dance. The origin of Kathak is traditionally attributed to the traveling bards of ancient northern India known as Kathakars or storytellers. The term Kathak is derived from the Vedic Sanskrit word Katha which means "story", and Kathakar which means "the one who tells a story", or "to do with stories". Wandering Kathakars communicated stories from the great epics and ancient mythology through dance, songs and music in a manner similar to early Greek theatre. Kathak dancers tell various stories through their hand movements and footwork, but most importantly through their facial expressions. Kathak evolved during the Bhakti movement, particularly by incorporating the childhood and stories of the Hindu god Krishna, as well as independently in the courts of north Indian kingdoms.
In the Buddhist tradition, the five hindrances are identified as mental factors that hinder progress in meditation and in our daily lives. In the Theravada tradition, these factors are identified specifically as obstacles to the jhānas within meditation practice. Within the Mahayana tradition, the five hindrances are identified as obstacles to samatha (tranquility) meditation. Contemporary Insight Meditation teachers identify the five hindrances as obstacles to mindfulness meditation.
Indian classical dance, or Shastriya Nritya, is an umbrella term for various performance arts rooted in religious Hindu musical theatre styles, whose theory and practice can be traced to the Sanskrit text Natya Shastra.
Duende or tener duende is a Spanish term for a heightened state of emotion, expression and authenticity, often connected with flamenco. The term derives from the duende, an elf or goblin-like creature in Spanish and Latin American folklore.
Miranda July is an American film director, screenwriter, singer, actress, author and artist. Her body of work includes film, fiction, monologue, digital media presentations, and live performance art.
Thriller is a viral video featuring the CPDRC Dancing Inmates of a high-security penitentiary. In 2007, the inmates of Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC), a maximum security prison in Cebu, the Philippines, imitated the zombie dance featured in the music video of Michael Jackson's "Thriller". The footage, uploaded onto video-sharing website YouTube, became a viral video. The idea behind the dance came from the prison's chief, Byron F. Garcia. Garcia first conceived the idea of exercising as an enjoyable way of keeping the prisoners mentally and physically fit. Music was then added to provide additional motivation. The convicts marched and danced to several songs, including "In the Navy" and "Y.M.C.A." by the Village People.
Thirakkatha is a 2008 Malayalam romantic drama film co-produced, written, and directed by Ranjith.
The physically integrated dance movement is part of the disability culture movement, which recognizes and celebrates the first-person experience of disability, not as a medical model construct but as a social phenomenon, through artistic, literary, and other creative means.
Kamaladalam is a 1992 Indian Malayalam musical drama film, written by A. K. Lohithadas and directed by Sibi Malayil. It features Mohanlal, Murali, Vineeth, Nedumudi Venu, Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair, Monisha, Parvathy and Sukumari. It was produced by Mohanlal for Pranavam Arts.
Malavika Avinash is an Indian actress, television personality and politician. She is known for her work in Kannada and Tamil films. She hosted Baduku Jataka Bandi, a television show that aired on Zee Kannada.
Pattam Pole is a 2013 Malayalam romantic film directed by cinematographer Alagappan N, who makes his directorial debut. The film tracks the relationship between a Brahmin youth, Karthik and a Christian girl Riya. Archana Kavi, Anoop Menon, Lalu Alex, Jayaprakash, Seetha, Leema Babu, Shraddha Gokul, Nandhu and Ilavarasu play supporting roles. It is now being remade in Tamil as Khadal Ithu Khadal with the same caste and crew with S sanalKumar replacing M jayachandran.
Beyond the Clouds is a 2017 Indian drama film written and directed by Majid Majidi, under the production banner Zee Studios. It stars debutante Ishaan Khatter as Amir, a street hustler and drug dealer in the city of Mumbai. Malavika Mohanan as Tara, is the sister of Amir. She works for a dour merchant Akshi. The film story is centred around bonding between the siblings, a take on human relationships in general. The sibling's bond is put to test when Tara lands in jail for a crime committed by Amir which forms the crux of the film. The film is a grown-up version of Majidi's previously directed Children of Heaven (1997). The original language of Beyond the Clouds is Hindi.
Aravindante Athidhikal is a 2018 Indian Malayalam-language comedy-drama film directed by M. Mohanan and produced by Pradeep Kumar Pathiyara and co-produced by Noble Babu Thomas under the studios Pathiyara Entertainments and Big Bang Entertainments, respectively. The film stars Vineeth Sreenivasan, Sreenivasan and Nikhila Vimal. This film is credited as the 200th film of Sreenivasan. Swaroop Philip handled the cinematography and Ranjan Abraham was the editor. Urvashi and Shanthi Krishna plays other important roles.
Petta is a 2019 Indian Tamil-language action film written and directed by Karthik Subbaraj. The film was produced by Kalanithi Maran under the banner Sun Pictures. The film stars Rajinikanth in the title role along an ensemble cast including Vijay Sethupathi, Simran, Trisha, M. Sasikumar, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Bobby Simha, Sananth Reddy, Megha Akash, and Malavika Mohanan. The music was composed by Anirudh Ravichander with editing done by Vivek Harshan and cinematography by Tirru. The film was released on 10 January 2019.
