Cultural context

Translating, deciphering, decoding, interpreting . . .

Balbir Singh was born in Punjab, India, coming as a baby with his family to England, where they settled in Bradford, in the industrial West Riding of Yorkshire.

Raised in a household where he was the only English speaker, Balbir took on the role of guide and translator for his family, navigating the complexities of life between two cultures.

This early responsibility ignited a deep love for language, communication and creativity, which would later fuel his passion for the transformative power of the arts, movement and imagination.

“Today I’m known for translating the language of one world – dance – into the language of another, say, sport or health. And in a funny way as a child that was my role too. But back then I was translating for my parents: the TV news, or the Telegraph & Argus. Or I’d be helping them fill out some kind of form from the council. I was always translating, deciphering, decoding, interpreting.”

Maa Boli, creative development session: Abirami Eswar

Crossing cultures – on the number 72 bus

Back in the early 2000s, Balbir was interviewed about his cultural background. Asked about his cultural influences, he confirmed that, yes, he had indeed been influenced by two very different cultures – but that we shouldn’t assume this to be about differences between India and the UK, or even east vs. west.

For Balbir, the two contrasting influences were: the culture of Bradford, and the culture of Leeds! It was a mischievous comment, designed to stop readers in their tracks. But it had a serious side to it, as Balbir explains . . .

“There was a huge difference between the provincial life I had experienced growing up in Bradford, and the cosmopolitan, artistic culture I then encountered at the Northern [School of Contemporary Dance] in Leeds. So, of course I am Indian by birth, but actually, in terms of my creative influences, it was always the western cultural tradition that attracted me.”

Champion of the Flatlands at London's Southbank: Abirami Eswar and Keelen Phillips

Third culture kid

Over time of course, India has proven more relevant to Balbir than his comments at that time implied. You can see this not only in some of the work, but in his lifelong commitment as Shishya to his Guru, Padmashri Pratap Pawar. When Balbir began to respond to India though, it wasn’t in the sense of ‘returning to his roots.’ Rather he would see it as one element in his development as a person.

When two cultures exert their influence, what comes out of it is not so much a mixture of the two elements as a third, different thing. A third culture, in fact.

Sociologist even have a name for people who grow up in this hybrid environment: Third Culture Kids.

When Third Culture Kids ‘do’ art, it can be difficult for commentators to grasp what’s going on: what is Balbir’s art – is it Indian? Is it British? The answer is: both – and neither.

As an artistic phenomenon, this is far from unique.

Balbir himself is the first to acknowledge this: “Examples of art expressing a third culture may be far more widespread that we previously thought. Perhaps we’ve just not been looking for it. Once we start to look at art through the ‘third culture’ prism, we begin to see it everywhere. Maybe it’s time to rethink our cultural categories.”