- The art of movement, and weaving a mosaic between cultures and expression
Dance is an artform that carries such diversity across cultures all around the world. But at its core, it is a beautiful form of expression adorned in movement. Umeshi Rajeendra (MFA, BA, in Fine Arts – Dance), is an interdisciplinary dance artist, movement coach for theatre, educator, and activist. She is also the Co-Founder/Artistic Director of MeshGround; a platform for movement arts in Sri Lanka, and a visiting lecturer at the University of Peradeniya. She was one of the recipients of the President’s Fund for Excellence 2020 during her period of study at the University of Arts, US.
Stepping into the world of dance at age six, Umeshi has worked with a number of renowned artists including South African artists Dada Masilo and Lulu Mlangeni, and US artists Olivier Tarpaga, Julie Fox, Jesse Zaritt, and more. She is currently working with New York-based Israeli-American artist Netta Yerushalmy and Burkina Faso artist Olivier Tarpaga to create an ensemble piece for a solo project that is set to take the stage in 2022. Brunch spoke to Umeshi to explore what dancing means to her and to understand the journey that her passion has led her on.
Dance – the meaning, the journey, and the purpose
“Dance has always been my mode of understanding, thinking, and communicating with the world, offering a powerful means of connecting and feeling grounded, instilling an awareness of life by asking questions, and confronting reality for what it is and what it could be through movement, and so in many ways, it is a lengthy and intimate research for me,” said an impassioned Umeshi, delving into what the art means to her.
Taking a stroll down memory lane, Umeshi shared that she started dancing at the age of six. However, she said that at such a tender age, she did not realise that she was engaging in something so profound, and that it took her time to grasp the expansive possibilities of the art. She shared that this is possibly why there was no specific “aha” moment, but more so, a gradual
realisation of not only how important the field of dance, as an artistic, athletic, and knowledge producing form of expression, is for her, but also how it provides such a great tool to help her create change. She expressed her gratitude to the artists, mentors, and collaborators she has worked with, over the last 26 years, adding that it was their belief in her that has motivated and enabled her to reach where she is today. Sharing a bit of insight about herself, Umeshi said: “I like to say that I am like a kumbuk tree with roots spread far and wide of knowledge passed on. And I am incredibly lucky and privileged to have found my passion in life at such a young age!”
When asked about the purpose in her creations, Umeshi stated that it is to engage the audience with an intellectual kinesthetic. “My works are not produced for the purpose of entertainment, and I am interested in engaging the audience directly, with an intellectual, kinesthetic participation with research and conceptual interests playing a crucial role in how I navigate my
relationship in performance.” She further added that this can take a myriad of shapes and forms, from highly technical explorations of the physicality, to site-specific investigation, to understanding life, and seeking change for the better.
Given that Umeshi has studied several different forms of dance, we asked her which style spoke to her the most and why. “I am not connected to one style – in fact, I prefer not using the word ‘style’ and instead, I use the word ‘practices’. I am in the nexus of multiple practices and ways of thinking, I guess,” she shared, while adding that the movement practice she engages in, is a contemporary dance from a south, multi-racial subaltern perspective like with many other artists of colour. She elaborated that it reimagines contemporary dance as one that is polycentric and intersectional in nature; a conceptual proposal with multiplicity as its base, moving through the politics in our dancing bodies and its broader relations.
She stated that this means that she truly allows the history of her body, and all the training that has shaped how she moves, to come into play in the way it needs to, in a specific moment in time and space. “It is an ever-evolving practice that pulls from a collection of methods/ideologies/forms/techniques, that is morphed by what is in the now, and of course the forces that I, as an individual, come with,” she added.
MeshGround – the platform and the vision
Founded under the title of Mesh Academy as a pilot project five years ago, the platform was relaunched as MeshGround, a platform for movement arts, in January 2021, bringing together a group of dance educators and artists.
Umeshi shared that she had been rethinking the nature and design of a school/platform/centre/studio and that she believes that today, there is a reason to reimagine dance education, as the way in which one should learn needs to be expanded across various dimensions, via unconventional modes of learning and unlearning, especially in a day and age where radical change is required. “Therefore, MeshGround is, as an ‘odyssey’, an artistic,
educative, and critical platform of exchanges, aimed at investigating dance and movement-based forms and uncovering alternate ways of thinking in dance and
performance-making through experimental process-based methodologies to stimulate
creative and independent movement thinkers,” she added.
Elaborating on the vision for MeshGround, the impassioned artist said that she and her team believe in an intersection between the field of dance and everyday life in an effort to not only bring people and ideas together, but also to challenge thinking through multi-layered performances, conversations, and exchanges, constructing a community alongside other artists and dancers.
The scope and future of dancing as a profession in Sri Lanka
“Engaging with an artform as a profession in Sri Lanka is not easy, but it is rewarding if you’re willing to stick to it and battle the challenges. And these challenges will feel never-ending, but the only way to make the profession thrive is if more people who are passionate about it work at it so that as a collective, we can lift the industry up,” Umeshi shared.
She went on to say that she views the arts as being fundamental to our humanity, in the sense that they ennoble and inspire us and foster creativity, goodness, acceptance, and a shared participation of different minds. Rajeendra added further that the arts are also an essential part of a healthy community – strengthening it socially, educationally, politically, and culturally, especially during difficult times like Covid has shown us.
“However, I do feel strongly that the government and private organisations need to invest and support more local art individuals and organisations because your neighbourhood art company is as good and as important as a world-class museum somewhere, and Sri Lanka has so much talent to showcase to the world,” said Umeshi, while stressing on the importance of working together to uplift Sri Lanka as a hub in a multitude of aspects. She believes that the more organisations support one another and the arts, the more our communities and economy will flourish, while making way for thriving critical thinkers who will help make the world a better place.
