after meepao, a dance performance conceptualized by surjit nongmeikapam

meepao is a dance in celebration of all the departed, especially the ones who are deemed inconsequential. using minimal movements, meepao invites the spectator into a space where dancers and non-dancers alike can join in this celebration. it begins with simple movements of the feet. the movements repeat, as though creating their own ritual, and find their depth and texture through the synchronicity of bodies dancing together to the beat of live music. they slowly transcend into a liminal space where the living (mee) convey a message (pao) of harmony.

that a flame has to keep itself burning.

that a flame has to keep itself.

that a flame has to keep itself even

when (especially when) it ashes into us.

*

the further the dancers move

from the centre the faster they have to move

to duck under the stick's stinging swing.

*

dance used to be a body's gate to seduction—

its stretched surfaces, jaggedbreathed ribs,

twerklumps of flesh, insinuating ellipses—

before it became a guillotine of defence

when the worst you have to save yourself from

is yourownself.

*

this is what a little hope does—

the dance is fast when it's all dark.

the dance is faster when it's all light.

but the dance is the fastest when it's

mostly dark and slightly light—

and this is what a little hope undoes:

the certainty of dying out in the dark.

~ ajay

17/2/2023