Poetics of Absence
An illustrated presentation by Navtej Singh Johar

The speaker will share his love for the thumri, ghazal, kafi and padam, all genres of amorous songs that address the absence of a fictitious god-lover. Using abhinaya, he will illustrate the poetic dynamics that may operate between the “real-self” and its “fictitious-other” for the purpose of aesthetic satisfaction (rasa) that can be said to be unique to the subcontinent.

Navtej Singh Johar is a dancer-choreographer, yoga practitioner, scholar and social activist. His work within all fields of his varied interests remains consistently body-centric.  It twines practice with critical theory and social action while it traverses freely between the traditional and the contemporary.  Johar teaches Dance Studies at Ashoka University, India, and is the founder-director of Studio Abhyas, New Delhi where he teaches two practices that he has devised over the years, the BARPS Method of Asana and Abhyas Somtics,  the two being inspired by the concepts of sukh and rasa that are central to Yoga and Indian poetics respectively