Western News Staff
Penticton School of Dance and the House of Kiran are combining forces to offer a one-woman tour-de-force, Fish Eyes, by Canadian actor, playwright and choreographer, Anita Majumdar.
Fish Eyes is the story of Meena, an average Canadian teenager who, like any other 17-year-old, obsesses. Her obsession? Bollywood superstar Aishwarya Rai, her major high school crush, Buddy, and her upcoming prom. To top it all off, her dance teacher is driving her nuts preparing for the all-important dance competition.
“We are so pleased to bring Anita and Fish Eyes to Penticton,” says Penticton School of Dance Artistic Director Krystal Kiran Garib. “Anita is an extraordinary artist whose amazing talent allows her to tell a heartwarming and engaging story in the most honest, genuine and humorous way, while using the medium of dance. Not only does Fish Eyes touch on several hot-button issues for all teenagers, issues of identity and belonging, but the show also focuses specifically on how these issues affect so called ‘third-culture’ kids who at times feel torn between two cultures.”
Created in Montreal at the National Theatre School of Canada, Fish Eyes made its world premiere at the SummerWorks Festival in Toronto in 2004. It went on to play to packed houses at Toronto’s Theatre Passe Muraille in 2005, at Vancouver’s The Cultch Theatre in 2006 and toured to select cities throughout India later that year.
The Penticton performances of Fish Eyes takes place on March 10 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. on the Cannery Stage.
In addition to the two performances of Fish Eyes, Majumdar will join Garib in conducting a Bollywood Dance Workshop on March 11 at 2 p.m. at the Penticton School of Dance. The workshop is open to the public and participants of all skill levels are invited to take part. Pre-registration is required and workshop participants will also receive a special discount of 10 per cent off performance tickets.
Proceeds from both performances and the workshop go to the Maple Batalia Bursary for the Arts. Batalia was a young, aspiring South Asian model and actress who was recently murdered on the SFU Campus.
Born and raised in Port Moody, Majumdar is an acting graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada and in addition to her 15-year performance career, Majumdar is also a Dora Mavor Moore nominated choreographer.
She has choreographed and taught dance for various theatre companies and institutions including The Second City, Humber College, University of Alberta, Factory Theatre, and Theatre Passe Muraille to name a few. Anita has been Playwright-in-Residence with Nightswimming Theatre and has been a member of the Tarragon Writer’s Unit and Cahoots Theatre Company’s Hothouse Writer’s Unit as well as having her work showcased at Factory Theatre’s Crosscurrents Festival.
