About The Event
Architect of Self-Destruction is a contemporary dance performance that investigates exhaustion, resilience, and the thresholds of physical and mental endurance. The work explores how reaching a state of depletion can become a catalyst for transformation, revealing new possibilities that emerge when familiar structures begin to break down.
Rooted in Eastern philosophical thought, the piece approaches destruction not as collapse, but as a generative force. Through cycles of dissolution and emergence, it considers how personal, social, and structural change often begins with the dismantling of established forms. The performance invites audiences to reflect on the transformative potential that exists within moments of uncertainty, crisis, and renewal.
Built through intense physical practice, repetition, endurance, and risk, the work creates a constantly shifting relationship between body and space. Light and sound function as active dramaturgical elements, shaping an immersive environment in which movement, atmosphere, and emotion continuously influence one another. As performers push beyond comfort and certainty, they enter a territory where vulnerability, adaptation, and reinvention become possible.
Architect of Self-Destruction has been presented internationally with different casts of local dancers, adapting to diverse cultural and spatial contexts. This flexibility allows the work to remain responsive to each environment while maintaining its core investigation into transformation through destruction, generating unique encounters between performers, audiences, and place.
Choreographer : Abhilash Ningappa is the Founder and Artistic Director of Play Practice Artists Residency (India). Born and based in India, he is an internationally recognised performer, choreographer, and teacher. He holds a postgraduate degree from SEAD (Salzburg) and a Post Master's degree from APASS (Advanced Performance and Scenography Studies, Belgium). Trained in contemporary dance, Kalari Payattu, and yoga, his practice brings together movement, performance, and embodied research. With nearly two decades of experience, Abhilash has created acclaimed works including Architect of Self-Destruction and Persistence of Being, while teaching and performing across the world. He also leads workshops in yoga, martial arts, improvisation, and composition through his movement practice, Embodying Critical Situations. he continues to foster international artistic exchange by creating platforms for learning, collaboration, and performance.
