Blog

May 2024: Fiana Kawane

Who is Fiana Kawane in a sentence?
I am a dance artist-choreographer trained in Kathak — if you do not find me rehearsing in the beautiful Zagar or Marcuse studios, I am probably writing, or teaching at the Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Social Justice.

Tell us a bit about your work and practice.
Formally, I trained in Kathak at Kadamb, India an institute for dance founded by Kumudini Lakhia. I have been dancing independently since an early age, and ensemble for repertory work of various companies across the globe. I’ve returned to dance after a sabbatical. My current practice is smaller in scale, more local, public-engaged, full of cross-disciplinary collaborations, and committed to fostering slow, long-term artistic relationships.

How long have you been dancing?
Kathak for the past 20 years; dancing otherwise, all my life as far as I can remember.

How does dance fit into your life currently?
January ’24 onwards, I had the joy of sharing my dance practice in DTES as a New Works Share Dance artist. Between February and March ’24 for the Artist-in-Residence Studio (AIRS) program, I facilitated a dance inquiry project at wək̓ʷan̓əs tə syaqʷəm elementary school in Hastings-Sunrise. Supported by wonderful mentors and peers, these two local responsibilities involved being hands on about translating my dance practice for the needs of diverse participants.

Apart from that, I’m adapting my dance work to site-specific outdoor spaces as part of Dance West’s Des Arts Dehors/Arts Outside (DADAO) program. In terms of incubating my own choreographic voice, I’ll be spending time immersed in exploration and creation for some new work this spring as an artist in residence with Dance Victoria. Uninhibited studio time is a rare privilege that I cherish. This past year, I’ve received phenomenal support from BC-based institutions, artists, and mentors. Most of all, I’m excited for things as they unfold organically and sustainably.

How would you describe dance’s impact on your life?
Being an incredibly embodied form of expression, dance wrenches me into the present. Dance invites me to sit with vulnerability, transience, and transformation. Dancing comes at a great cost and personal commitment for most artists, and it makes me a stronger and more empathetic person than I would be if I did not have access to this vocabulary. Dance has also brought the gifts of lifelong friendships for me.

Kathak is a storytelling form, but as I spend much of my waking hours with language, specifically poetry, I study how narratives change or require changing, and as they do, new stories and new audiences necessitate a different kind of telling. My training in structures of language and literary forms moves me to explore other stories and possibilities for performance and movement as languages.

More specifically, there are two rituals in Kathak that speak to me immensely. Upaj or skilled improvisation and jugalbandi or call-response between other artists and dancer. Kathak’s longstanding emphasis on improvisation and conversation teaches me a lot about resilience and play in the face of changing conditions of life.

What three core values drive your engagement with dance?
Intergenerational knowledge; relational respect; dance as inquiry.

Do you have a particular practice that you carry out each day or have you implemented new practices over these last few years?
Riyaaz connotes practice, or immersion in an activity with no expectation of reward. I try to engage in my practice with that intention. Kathak is a rigorous form which is increasingly demanding on the body and mind, and there is just no shortcut other than cumulative years of riyaaz — so repetition, letting go, and one day hopefully your movements don’t require pre-emptive thinking about what you are going to do, they fall together in place as the sounds, lights, space, bodies cue you in. I am also becoming more comfortable with failing.

Care towards curating a sustainable dance environment for myself and artists that I work with is a priority. I supplement my practice with other activities as and when I can which range from going to see other artists’ shows, listening to talk-backs, trainings and workshops, reading interviews and dance historians, watching archival videos, and engaging in informal feedback with mentors. It’s only recently that I learnt how different flooring or posture can injure a Kathak dancer’s knees and spine — we danced on solid granite floors and never thought twice about holistic care for the self!

What would you say are the most significant benefits for you in being a Dance Centre member?
Dance Centre is a wonderful resource, space, and community that supports artists from various genres and backgrounds. I am thankful for the conviction the Centre has instilled in my work and all the lovely people that work here that I’ve had the chance to liaise with.

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Photos: Jamie Poh and ShengHo