ANITA RATNAM: "I'm always interested in doing things and going places I've never been with dance!" says Ratnam, the acclaimed choreographer/dancer and cultural activist based at Chennai. "I would hate to call this a "fusion" work. I've taken the spatial challenges of modern dance and the attacking geometry of Bharatanatyam to really take the choreography to a third place.

It's been a wondrous process of discovery - Americans are about I, me, myself. It's the opposite of Indians, who always think in the collective - we are never about ourselves. American dance has a sense of irreverence and is slightly narcissistic. You can create a dance about a couple in the street walking. An Indian choreographer couldn't even begin to think about that. So we had to come to a different kind of aesthetic," Anita adds.

"In the creation of DUST, Mark and I realised that we could not work with 'dumb' dancers. Dancers who waited like mute clay in anticipation of being fashioned did not interest us. What we wanted was intelligent, vibrant artistes who could take possession and ownership of the work and partner us in the entire process", she said.

Anita further elaborated, "Creating DUST was fraught with danger and joy. The intensity of the electronic music without the familiar beats that Indian dancers could relate to, the technique of counting silently that we had to learn from our American counterparts, the ability to 'breathe' throughout the strenuous work so that stamina remained constant. These were some of the very valuable lessons that we, the Indians, learned through the process.

A 3-hour BUTOH workshop experience in the city of Pittsburgh convinced me that this Japanese dance technique was what we would use to show David-Neel's slow and arduous journey from the West to the East. Most valuable of all the experiences to our Indian group was the discipline and commitment to body culture demonstrated by the Americans and the vital need to perform warm-ups before a performance. Understanding how our bodies worked and how we could avoid common injuries to our lower backs and our knees was an invaluable insight shared by Mark Taylor due his extensive work in a technique called BODY MIND CENTERING.

DUST was a critical hit with audiences in the USA and successfully toured India in 2002. However, my most valuable memories is not the completed work itself but the process that helped to shape its final personality.

My commitment to collaboration continues stronger than ever"

MARK TAYLOR: "I've had a fascination with David-Neel's stories for years," he says. "DUST is very much about the counter-point/dialogue between Indian and postmodern techniques. The creative process has been ardous for the wonderful dancers, who have had to both learn and unlearn dance techniques inorder to create the work in the four short weeks we have had together. There are kinetic, aesthetic and cultural interfaces. It's a deeply realized work," Taylor acknowledges.

The excitement of discovery is evident in his voice as he explains, "This is what I want to do with my life. I don't like to do what I know how to do. And I can't rest until I bring the thrill of each collaboration to fruition."

ANUSHA SUBRAMANIAM, who plays the lead role of Alexandra David-Neel in DUST, describes her experience: "DUST has altogether been such a lovely experience for me!

From the choreographic process itself, the collaborative intent was very clear. It was very exciting to see how the dancers abstracted from each others' dances.

I really liked the enthusiasm Mark and Anita generated, to get the best from us. They were perfectly balanced counterpoints for each other - when one person was happy and encouraged our progress, the other became more critical and demanding! Mark is such a friendly and sensitive person and gave us such a patient and open hearing that we felt our contributions were part of the choreograpy too! Anita too has such a different eye from the usual Indian and Bharatanatyam view point and taught us so much.

As a production, it evoked total involvement from all concerned. I was amazed to see Barbara Thompson's commitment towards the lighting design that began even before the studio process! She (as well as others from within the company), used to sit through our rehearsals and offer so many ideas from a non-dance perspective - her creation of the "golden square" of light was simply amazing!

DUST has really made me aware of the importance of everyone working together - all good work doesn't happen with a single person - unless a team gets totally involved, the work can't shape up! This is my first collaboration that has evoked such positive feelings through out. There were no altercations or egos, the TEAM concept was evident all the way and the overall helpful and friendly atmosphere helped all of us to learn better!"