Rakesh Sukesh

I N T A C T  M E T H O D

Decolonisation of forms and Power of breath

DECOLONISATION OF DANCE
This course invites participants to explore their unique dance identities through self-reflective practices, focusing on how personal history, cultural background, and societal expectations have shaped their expression in dance. The journey begins with exercises in personal reflection, where participants examine their own training histories to uncover the origins and influences of their current dance identities. Through this process, they question how their style reflects broader cultural, political, and historical factors, considering the ways in which social status and accessibility have influenced what is accepted as “high” or “exotic” art. Participants are encouraged to engage in critical inquiry into the traditional categorisations of dance—such as “sophisticated,” “exotic,” or “primitive”—and how these labels are often rooted in colonial perspectives. They are prompted to examine how societal acceptance of certain dance forms has historically been intertwined with socio-economic status and explore what these labels mean
within their own dance experiences. One example used in this exploration is Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, a ballet that, in its time, disrupted conventional ideas of beauty and pushed against societal expectations in early 20th-century Europe. Each session provides tools for participants to experiment with and deconstruct their movement patterns, encouraging them to question familiar forms and deepen their understanding of dance beyond traditional categories. Through collaborative exercises, participants are invited to explore diverse perspectives, cultivating a dynamic exploration of form that challenges the rigidity of colonised dance frameworks. By the end of the course, participants will have not only identified their evolving dance identities but also developed the skills to continually question and redefine their understanding of dance. This reflective journey fosters an appreciation for the complexities of cultural and historical influences, encouraging a dance practice that remains open to growth and transformation.

POWER OF BREATH
This workshop integrates contemporary scientific findings with ancient breath work practices to support dancers in enhancing their physical and mental abilities. Recent research, as highlighted by Jerath et al. (2006), underscores the significance of breath in regulating physiological and psychological states, emphasising its role in reducing stress and improving cognitive function. Building on this scientific understanding, the workshop introduces traditional breath work techniques such as Pranayama, including specific practices like for example: Kapalabhati and Nadi Shodhana. These ancient techniques aim to develop breath control, optimise respiratory pathways, and enhance breathing capacity, thereby facilitating dancers’ performance improvement.

How to begin?
Participants will go through structured improvisation stages, synchronised with specific breathing patterns, illustrating how breath can drive movement, create rhythm, and deepen the connection between dancer and environment. Our warm-up exercises blend dynamic fluid and dynamic movement patterns with deep, rhythmic breathing to enhance oxygen flow to muscles, preparing the body for versatile activity.

How to apply?
Performance is profoundly impacted by different breathing rhythms. Various breathing patterns create different impacts on physical movement, emotional, and mental states. Practicing these rhythms in various contexts helps dancers understand how breath modulates emotion. We analyse how breath patterns affect the body and mind, teaching participants to set performance intentions and use breath to transform these intentions into physical and emotional expression. Techniques such as breath visualisation and breath- gesture synchronisation will be employed to amplify expressive power.

Intact is a training method generated through years of research, observation and adaptation to our current times, while also based on intrinsic human characteristics: breath, movement, emotion, thought, intention, environment. Its main goal lies on enhancing humanness in its most raw and genuine form. This method creates a safe and honest place that embraces and acknowledges our inner world, both weaknesses and strengths, to learn how to use them through reflection and striving for further development. It is an interconnected training system that utilises movement as a base to create, confront and play within crisis. It provides the time- space to get to know one’s personal form and how to use the body to broaden the range of movement vocabulary.
As an holistic form, it is inspired by tools from specific lineages, such as breath, meditation and the inner mechanics of yogi principles, while also utilising the movement and philosophies from kalaripayatt. This interwoven structure combines and rearranges these tools and ideas in a proposal for a new approach. In these classes, one can expect a dedication to raising awareness to individuality and inner workings, an awakening of the senses that leads to an ability to control and manage external triggers. In other words, taking charge of ones self

Rakesh Sukesh’s biography:

Rakesh Sukesh is an accomplished performer, choreographer, teacher, and producer whose work bridges the artistic traditions of Bharat (India) and Europe. His background is deeply rooted in yogic philosophy, influenced by his family heritage, and he holds accreditation from the Shivananda Yoga Centre. Rakesh’s dance practice draws from Kalaripayattu and contemporary techniques, which he has refined under the guidance of teachers such as Jaychandran Palazy, Dil Sagar, Katie Duck, and David Zambrano.
Rakesh has performed with renowned companies like Ultima Vez`s choreographer Wim Vandekeybus, Roosana & Kenneth Company, and Bollwerk, and his choreographic works, including A Dream of Silence, Yatra, and May Us Bless the I, have been widely recognized. His latest solo production, because I love the diversity (this-micro-attitude we all have it), was commissioned and premiered at the Push Festival Vancouver in 2024, addressing themes of racism and micro-attitudes, is currently on tour in Europe and USA.

Over a 14-year career, Rakesh has developed the IntAct Method (Interconnected Dance Practice), which blends Kalaripayattu, contemporary dance, and yogic principles. This method has garnered attention worldwide, leading to teaching opportunities with respected companies and institutions such as Sidi Larbi Company, Ultima Vez, Tanzfabrik, ImpulsTanz, and many others. He is also a guest faculty at P.A.R.T.S. With a Master’s degree in Arts and Culture Management, Rakesh also curates the Sanskar International Dance Festival and the Dance Screen film festival in Switzerland, contributing to the broader cultural dialogue through his leadership and artistic vision.
For more: rakeshsukesh.net

Dates and times:
May 26 – 30
Monday to Friday
9:00 – 13:00

Price:
50 € registration fee
240 € total

Package deal:
In the same week Uiko Watanabe is teaching in the afternoons. You get a 15% discount for registering to both workshops.