Today Balbir Singh’s creative work is often both made and presented in unexpected settings. One is more likely to encounter his work in a park or garden, a public square, museum or gallery than in a traditional theatre setting.
And the creative process is equally innovative, involving a close collaborative journey which Balbir undertakes alongside diverse communities, whose perspectives and lived experience often have little in common with the world of dance.
Yet Balbir’s deep commitment to exceptional artistic quality is as strong today as it was when he began making work, much of which was performed by professional dancers in traditional theatre settings.
Revisiting this early work is instructive. In it one can see, in embryo, many of the themes that characterise his practise today. There is the unexpected pairing of apparently disparate elements; the juxtaposition of cultural traditions; and above all the use of art to reveal and celebrate our humanity.
