performances

During the early research period for Glorious, Rajni performed a short piece called Hope as part of SPIELART's Woodstock of Political Thinking event in Munich.

 "It begins as each person enters.

What is this America that does not stay in its place- geographical, mental, emotional or political? Why this romance, this journeying, this innocent starvation? Why loneliness, violence, injustice, and eradication? This enormous, forgetful, clumsy lump of land...

image from 'Dinner with America' preview at The Bluecoat - image by Manuel Vason click image to enlarge

image from 'Dinner with America' preview at The Bluecoat - image by Manuel Vason click image to enlarge

image from 'Dinner with America' preview at The Bluecoat - image by Manuel Vason click image to enlarge

Live Brits II programme
click image to enlarge A lecture presentation at Hebbel-am-Ufer (Berlin), in which speaking in both German and English was used as an illustration of the ideas of (mis-)translation and cultural identity within Rajni's work.

"I was curious. What stops me from talking to strangers? What draws me to trust one person, to invite one person into my family and not the other? How can we re-find a way to talk? What would you say to a stranger?"

Living the Dream is a 60x60 film commissioned by motiroti as part of their 360° series. The film uses a minute of footage in which Rajni, with a carelessly painted white face, stares directly into the camera (an event which lasted an hour in total).

give what you can, take what you need is a playful exploration of notions of community and conversation through gift exchange. 

Drawing on Rajni's research projects into gift-giving as intervention in public space, this interactive performance is designed to take place in busy communal areas.  Passers-by are greeted by a large dinner table, where various other members of the public may be seated at any time.  Newcomers are invited to take part by accepting a gift, entering into a relationship with the gathering for as long or as short a time as they choose.

give what you can, take what you need was originally commissioned by Futuresonic 2008 and the Nuffield Theatre, Lancaster, and toured in 2008-2009 alongside Dinner with America.This piece can still occasionally be booked. Please use the contact form.

The initial small gifts intervention series took place throughout 2006 and 2007, exploring the role of gift and conversation in public spaces. This research was funded by the Live Art Development Agency through their One to One Bursary scheme, and supported by the Nuffield Theatre in Lancaster, the Colchester Arts Centre and Alternate ROOTS. Continuations of this research included a commission from the Nuffield Theatre in Lancaster in association with Futuresonic, and a commission from The Chelsea Theatre in London. Scroll to the bottom of the page for PDFs related to this research.

Rajni as the Indian Bride in Mr Quiver - photo by Theron Schmidt
click image to enlarge Rajni as Elizabeth I in Mr Quiver - photo by Theron Schmidt
click image to enlarge Rajni as the Indian Bride in Mr Quiver - photo by Theron Schmidt
click image to enlarge

The first in a trilogy of performances questioning cultural identity, Mr Quiver is a durational event that combines the intensity of performance with the intimacy of installation. Exploring themes of identity, theatricality, and our relationship to the land we live on, this performance is built and then destroyed over the space of four hours. Audience members enter and leave as they wish, and may walk amongst the performers or sit back and enjoy the spectacle around them.

The New Barbarian Collection Fall 2007: bringing your dreams to life, one nightmare at a time was a Pocha Nostra performance made in collaboration with Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Violeta Luna and Roberto Sifuentes from La Pocha Nostra and a group of UK collaborators.

Erupting unexpectedly into beautiful, entangled dance, or into exquisite, tense stillness, The Awkward Position took a fresh look at that age-old question, what are we doing here? Except that this was no abstract philosophical inquiry: by "here", Rajni meant right here, in the theatre, with an audience, performers, a technician, and a director...

Rajni choreographed and performed in this short film by Theron U. Schmidt which was originally screened as part of the live performance The Crossing at 7Stages Theatre in Atlanta GA, USA. The film depicts a body talking and listening to itself at a distance, the ways in which getting out of one’s skin also means getting into one’s skin.

Miss America was conceived in collaboration with artist Ruth Laxson and poet Jerry Cullum, and was performed at the Marcia Wood Gallery in Atlanta, GA during one of Ruth's exhibitions. Miss America explored representations of war, the human body, and the ways in which we communicate with each other. Rajni performed first with Ruth and then solo, responding to the artist’s work.

Upon a Blighted Star, Ballroom Studios - performers Rajni Shah and Theron Schmidt
click image to enlarge

Upon a Blighted Star was a short duet conceived as a direct response to the events of September 11th and reactions to these events within the United States of America. It was originally performed at a benefit for New York service workers organized by the Georgia Coalition for Peace. The work was further developed within the Translations series, and was later performed at the Camden People’s Theatre in London.

Performers: Theron U. Schmidt and Rajni Shah.

The Most Unlikely People Confess to their Dream was a series of intimate solos incorporating performance art, installation, writing, dance and original music, in which each performer’s dream was mapped onto the body of another.

Spinning 101 was a collaboration between Rajni Shah and visual artist Martha Whittington commissioned for the 2001 Seen + Heard festival in Atlanta GA. Fake hair controlled by machinery interacted with the performer in a silent film, which was looped and played in the presence of the fake hair machines to create a self-referential loop. A fibre and performance installation.

A Winter show, As If Traveling Through Snow was an hour-long duet exploring separateness and the longing for union. The audience was seated in two sections, facing each other but in opposite corners of the gallery, separated by a row of clear plastic sheets. Each audience member had a walkman and listened to a unique soundtrack as the show began. Rajni and Jill began by performing solo on each side of the divided space. As the show evolved, the audience was brought back into the room through the instruction to remove the headphones. Later, the physical divides in the space were lost and the show ended with a pas de deux.

Rajni’s first full-length show, hold each as we fall was performed by Gemma Brockis, Meredith Evans, Triona Kennedy and Rajni Shah. Exploring the desire for recognition, the story was loosely based on the myth of Echo and Narcissus and featured two performers in dresses, one performer in pyjamas, one performer dressed as a bear, and two microphones with very long leads. The show was created over six months but designed to only ever be performed once: 11pm, Sunday 18th April 1999.