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Dancing Through The Darkness: A Victim Of Bullying, Roger Sinha Foun

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  • Dancing Through The Darkness: A Victim Of Bullying, Roger Sinha Foun

    DANCING THROUGH THE DARKNESS: A VICTIM OF BULLYING, ROGER SINHA FOUND ACCEPTANCE IN DANCE AND IS NOW A RESPECTED CHOREOGRAPHER
    By: Holly Harris

    UpTown Magazine
    http://www.uptownmag.com/arts/dance/Dancing-through-the-darkness-134777433.html
    Dec 1 2011
    Winnipeg, Canada

    WCD company dancers under the direction of choreographer Roger Sinha.

    (LEIF NORMAN) Montreal-based choreographer Roger Sinha knows a thing
    or two about hard knocks.

    The son of an Indian father and an Armenian mother, Sinha recounts
    being beaten up every day at school as an eight-year-old kid in
    Saskatoon, ridiculed for the colour of his skin and made to feel like
    a social leper in his own community. After his growing interest in
    martial arts - he earned a black belt in karate at 17 to survive the
    bullying - morphed into a love for dance, he was trounced again by
    a ballet teacher who flatly told him he would never become a dancer
    due to his physique.

    "I was devastated because I was good," Sinha says. "I was told I was
    one of the best dancers in the class. It was rejection all over again."

    That would make anyone want to give up. However, those tough early
    days only forged Sinha's resolve, leading him to become a critically
    acclaimed dancer renowned for his searing, autobiographical works.

    Winnipeg's Contemporary Dancers presents his latest creation with the
    world premiere of Left Hook, Right Jab and other musical notes. The
    triple bill, simply titled Sinha, Lott and Browne, runs Dec. 1 to 4 at
    the Rachel Browne Theatre and includes two premieres by WCD artistic
    director Brent Lott as well as founding artistic director Rachel
    Browne. The show marks only the third time Sinha has created for the
    47-year-old company that last performed his riveting Benches in 1996.

    "I have always been a fan of Roger's work," Lott says. "I love the
    complicated rhythms and the bursts of energy, all done with amazingly
    intricate hand and finger placement. Every time I am in the studio
    with Roger and the dancers, they seem to be having a great time."

    The intensely physical piece merges classical Indian dance with
    contemporary vocabulary, martial arts, theatre and gestural Bharata
    Natyam dance from India. It also includes a liberal dose of Sinha's
    sardonic wit and a pastiche score the self-confessed technophile
    cobbled together using Garage Band.

    Born in London, England ("I was brought up on fish 'n' chips, not
    curry," he quips), Sinha, 51, came to Canada with his family in 1968.

    His immigrant parents' desire for him to follow a more traditional,
    financially secure path led to Sinha studying economics at the
    University of Toronto. He quickly realized his true passion lay in the
    arts, dropped out of university and began professional dance training
    at the relatively late age of 23. After several years exploring
    his own artistic voice, which was influenced by a love of disco and
    films such as All That Jazz, Sinha established his Montreal-based
    contemporary dance company, Sinha Danse, in 1991.

    A turning point came the following year. Inspired by Quebecois
    artists Robert Lepage, Ginette Laurins and Denys Arcand, who crafted
    works based on their personal experiences, Sinha created his highly
    acclaimed Burning Skin, which explored his ethnic heritage. To his
    great surprise, the autobiographical piece received rave reviews
    and catapulted him onto the national stage. The artist who spent his
    formative years feeling like an outcast finally felt accepted on his
    own terms.

    "It's saved me," Sinha quickly responds when asked what dance means to
    him. "It's given me a family. It has given me a place to belong. To
    be among people who are like-minded, other dancers and creators,
    has been liberating.

    "When you're an artist, it's important to know who you are," he says.

    "I'm celebrating my roots."

    Sinha, Browne and Lott Winnipeg's Contemporary Dancers Dec. 1 - 4,
    Rachel Browne Theatre



    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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