Digital Premiere: Bijayini Satpathy's Dohā

Choreographed and performed by Bijayini Satpathy
Music composed by Bindhumalini Narayanaswamy
Lighting and stage design by Sujay Saple

In her fifth and final performance as 2021-2022 MetLiveArts Artist in Residence, the incomparable choreographer and dancer Bijayini Satpathy built on her prior explorations of movement and art with an evening-length performance for the stage of the Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium. The new work, entitled “Dohā,” navigates the relationship between prayer and play, moving away from the Odissi dance form’s customary theistic depictions to highlight the bhāva—emotional experience—of prayer as an embodied human act. Within the discipline of ritualized prayer, Satpathy embraces play and playfulness as an essential part of the individual’s search for the divine. 

For more information and a full list of artists, view the concert program here. 

Premieres May 29 on YouTube (link forthcoming).

Dohā was made possible by The Arnold Fund for Dance Innovation at The Met and the New York State Council for the Arts. Additional support was provided by the Jerome Robbins Foundation.

Recorded on Tuesday, September 13, 2022 in The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium

Photo: Bijayini Satpathy performs in The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium. Photo by Stephanie Berger.