Mooki is a dance-theatre production directed by Veena Basavarajaiah. "Mooki", the Kannada word for "mute", is the title of a piece that has been inspired by Rabindranath Tagore's short story "Subha". The story revolves around a dumb girl who is ironically named Subhashini (which, in Sanskrit, means "one with the ability to speak beautifully"). This dynamics in the story is used as a metaphor in the piece to address the idea of freedom of speech that democracy claims to bestow upon its people.
The movement vocabulary explores sign language, and is also inspired by entities like trees, animals and humans that are not bestowed with the ability to speak.
The performance will look at how language creates hierarchy within the framework of society, with freedom of expression often being reserved to those with power. It will also deal with how the voice of communities that are often misinterpreted, translated or seldom heard are often categorized as being marginalized.
The piece draws from the experiences of the performers themselves, and primarily focuses on how we have all endured discrimination based on gender and sexuality in silence.
It was devised, and is being performed, by individuals hailing from diverse fields, and aims to expand the limiting definition of dance and theatre, by incorporating text, live music, personal experience and movement.
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