RAKESH SUKESH / PAYATT INTRANSIT / Class

Payatt INtransit is a contemporary movement technique that combines movement principles from the ancient Indian martial art form of Kalaripayattu with Hatha yoga practices like Asana and Pranayama as well as dynamic kundalini yoga and energy work to stimulate the source of energy in our body. It trains the practitioners in a safe, organic and yet rigorous way to become more confident, soft, relaxed, flexible and powerful, training us to be quick in our reflexes, while at the same time guiding us to cultivate a constant inner calm.

The focus lies on learning to relax and soften while simultaneously unleashing a forceful energy as we use gravity and momentum to build up physicality. The class challenges our physical and mental limits, training the physical body to be quick, energetic, physical, while mentally we remain calm, soft and relaxed, undisturbed by the agitation of physical movement. We learn to isolate the strong physical aspect of this class from the constant calm within, enabling us to gain complete control over the movement rather that the movement controlling us, and enhancing our ability to adapt to unexpected situations and make innovative yet efficient choices, based on combining the energy from within with our physical energy and with the energy around us.

Rakesh started his career as a Bollywood dancer with a dance company in Kerala/India. During this period he worked in several films as a dancer and assistant choreographer. In 2003 he joined Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts, a contemporary dance company in Bangalore. As a part of the company, Rakesh performed at various national and international venues. He was part of three major productions under the direction of Jayachandran Palazy (Artistic Director and Choreographer of Attakkalari). During his time with the company he was exposed to intensive training of the ancient Indian martial art form Kalaripayattu.

Since 2009, Rakesh has been working as an independent artist. Between July and August 2009, he participated in the Apprenticeship Program with Magpie Umbrella Organization under the Direction of Katie Duck (Artistic Director, teacher and performer) in Amsterdam. Ever since, he has been invited several times to perform with Magpie.

In the past years, Rakesh has been working on developing a contemporary movement method called Payatt INtransit – using Kalarippayattu and contemporary movement techniques, yoga and energy work. He has been invited to teach Payatt INtransit at various festivals and for companies such as Sidi Larbi’s company, Ultima Vez, Impuls Tanz at the summer festival/summer schools of Deltebre Danza Spain, Tanzfabrik Berlin, Colombo Dance Factory Zurich, Dancentrumjette Brussels, University of Costa Rica, Bremen Theater (Samir Akika), SEAD in Salzburg and so on.