I’ve been really fascinated with the geometry of Carnatic (South Indian) rhythms for some years now. Here’s a talk/performance I did at the international conference on live coding, sharing some of what I’ve learned about Konnakol rhythms and its influence on my approach to live coding:
It was amazing to meet Bharatanatyam dancer Janani Suresh Ram then, and find that my basic understanding of Konnakol rhythms allowed me to better understand Janani’s Carnatic dance practice. Here’s a short film documenting the amazing Bharatanatyam workshop that Janani lead for our local Pattern Club:
Janani and I have been collaborating since this workshop, including making a screen dance accepted to the Bridges Short Film festival called “Tiling Time”. We’re currently focussed on connecting our practice via gloves handmade for Janani by the amazing e-textile artist Mika Satomi, incorporating stretch, touch and light sensors. It will be really interesting connecting the symbolic hand gestures of Bharatanatyam with the symbols of live code.
We hope to work towards a live performance this Winter. Stay tuned!
