Prakriti II

The 2016 U.S. elections compelled us to create Prakriti: A History of the Present, to understand why we can be so unwilling to listen to views, beliefs or behaviors that are different from our own. We journeyed to our most primitive/primal times to discover our need for tribes, our reactions to the different and explored fear as one of its root causes.

Come the 2020 elections, not much has changed. In fact, the political polarization has only escalated. 

Prakriti II is an exploration of how we, as individuals and as a collective, sustain and move forward in the current socio-political polarized world. We are guided by hope and trust in humanity that we can do better; we deserve better than the anxiousness and rage caused by the divisiveness. Maybe we can find ways to channel these differences in a way that doesn't destroy us. We recognize that it requires on-going work and there may not be one particular or any resolution. We explore ways to pause and heal, reach for grounding strength, listen and open our minds, shed our egos, bring brevity and find joy in little things and seek empathy and kindness. 

Throughout the past 5 years, we have morphed and grown as artists, as a collective and more importantly with our creative collaborative process. This work is directed and choreographed by Tuli Bera and Kinnari Vora along with co-choreography by Ashaand Simone, Lauren Reed and Emily Loar. Music composed by Bob Garrett, filmography by Peter Alex Dorman, lighting by Jacob Snodgrass, and costumes by Kinnari Vora and Erika Ochoa.

In 2021, This project was partially supported by Preeti Veerlapati’s Individual Artist Program Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events, as well as a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency, a state agency through federal funds provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.

We continued our exploration of this work in 2022 and have presented it at various festivals throughout the Chicagoland area (Going Dutch Festival June 5th, 2022 and Mandala Makers Festival June 24th, 2022 and SAI’s Freedom Festival August 14th, 2022).

These public performances in 2022 were partially supported by Tuli Bera’s Individual Artist Program Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events, as well as a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency, a state agency through federal funds provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.