Jalika

Jalika — The Veil

Jalika is a physical contemporary circus production exploring the tension between identity and image—the person we experience within and the version of ourselves presented to the world.

Inspired by the atmosphere of early black-and-white cinema, the work places particular focus on the performers’ faces, gestures and emotional presence. Dance, mime theatre, aerial arts and contemporary movement come together within a distinctive visual world of suspended lamps, shifting light and shadow.

The Sanskrit word jalika can mean a veil, web or net. Within the performance, it becomes a metaphor for the layers through which we see ourselves and are seen by others. Created for the intimacy of a black-box theatre, Jalika has been presented at G5A and NCPA in Mumbai and Oddbird Theatre in Delhi.