Oddlab: Udal/Osai, Body/Sound

This work-in-progress is a collaborative performance project by Abhinaya, a dance practitioner, and Sasikumar, a Kattaikkuttu artist and mukavinai player. Through live music and movement, the piece explores how the body meets sound, and the many ways they share space - physically, emotionally, and sonically.

At the centre of the work is the mukavinai, a wind instrument from the Kattaikkuttu tradition in Tamil Nadu, used here not only as accompaniment but as an active presence onstage. Its melodies shape mood and atmosphere, guide the performers, and open new pathways for interaction. As Abhinaya and Sasikumar move between different genres of music and movement, the performance becomes a continuous negotiation between listening and responding, leading and following.

Movement by Abhinaya Penneswaran

Sound and music by Sasikumar Panchu

The first phase of this project was supported by the Department of Performing Arts at Ashoka, and was developed over a short period of time at Kattaikkuttu Sangam in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu.

Oddlab is a home for experimental work at Oddbird, connecting artists and audiences in various stages of a piece: early life, work-in-progress sharings, and evolving practices.