New Performance

This programme was closed in 2014.

The New Performance (NP) programme was started in 2005 to fund reflective performance practices that extend beyond prevailing idioms and forms of performance and/or create new modes of presentation. The programme supported performing arts groups and individuals working across music, dance, theatre and puppetry in addition to artists working in light or set design, sound and writing in the area of performance.

The programme facilitated the following: pre-production activities to germinate and nurture fresh ideas and reflect on the immediate context of their practice; risk-taking and experimental performances that tackle unexplored themes or critically engage with changing contexts of performances; dissemination processes to enable a wider public to critically engage with larger issues; residencies and workshops that question and reflect on contemporary practice and public platforms such as conferences and seminars to discuss newly emerging and unconventional practices.

Between 2005 and 2014 the programme supported 49 projects.

It was closed in 2014, after a review by a panel of experts comprising Sadanand Menon, Madhusree Dutta, Shubha Mudgal, and Vivan Sundaram. Based on the panel’s recommendations the Arts Practice programme (2015-2021) was launched to support critical projects across and inter disciplines.

New Performance Festival

The first edition of The New Performance Festival was held in Bangalore at Rangashankara between February 23 and 29, 2008. This festival featured four IFA-funded stage productions including …About Ram by Anurupa Roy, Quick Death by Sankar Venkateswaran, The Rhythm Divine by Astad Deboo and Anusha Lall’s VYUTI –Inflections. Response to this festival was unprecedented and motivated to share our work with audiences in other cities.

The second edition of The New Performance Festival was held in Kolkata at three different venues between November 17 and 21, 2010. The festival featured five IFA-supported stage productions (both dance and theatre) and a dialogue around new modes of performance.