About
Maiden | Mother | Whore

The Project


This production explores the complex relationships between women, social structures, health and social policies, and institutions, challenging assumptions about gender, society, and power. Drawing on women's embodied experiences and narratives, Maiden | Mother | Whore is a thought-provoking performance that delves into the tensions between individuals and collectives, agency and power, and patterns of oppression and resistance. The work investigates the polarized roles and positioning of women and their impact on subjectivities—both collective and individual—through the lens of Transnational Intersectional Feminism.

This collaborative project has emerged from a creative partnership between Theiyā Arts Dance Collective and academics from the Centre for Biomedicine, Self, and Society, with support from Creative Scotland and Dance Base, Edinburgh. Using a feedback-driven, dialogical methodology, Theiyā Arts Dance Collective and CBSS employ Maiden | Mother | Whore to open a dialogue among the academic community, the artistic community, and the audience, encouraging all to consider the interplay between self and society. The audience becomes part of the 'making,' as the performance evolves in response to their engagement. The production features interactive projections, live audience interaction, creative use of text from the process, and movement exploration rooted in Indian classical-contemporary dance, all set within a durational exhibition/installation format that includes five installation and live performance elements.

The Collaboration with Centre for Biomedicine, Self and Society at The University of Edinburgh


This collaboration began in 2020 with the pilot phase of Maiden | Mother | Whore (then titled The Story I See) and initially involved dialogical webcasts, culminating in a presentation at the Being Human Festival 2021. Now, as part of the Artistic Fellowships Programme at CBSS (2023/24), the team is producing further engagement strands blending academic and artistic work from Maiden | Mother | Whore. This collaboration between Theiyā Arts Dance Collective and the Centre for Biomedicine, Self, and Society aims to build dialogical spaces between arts and academia.


Current initiatives include a fortnightly Collaborative Writing series, a Conversation Series with Centre members and others in arts-based research, and a digital Maiden | Mother | Whore website intended as a living archive and discussion space for exploring reproductive justice and gender identities. The fellowship will culminate in an experiential symposium in October, focused on artistic practice as research within arts-led research, social justice, and creative dissemination within research processes, along with Autumn 2024 showcases in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

About the Theiyā Arts Dance Collective

Photo Credits: Estefany Correia.

Theiya Arts Dance Collective, is a Collective of Edinburgh-based, South Asian dance artists who are committed to using 'Arts as Activism' and initiating dialogue about contemporary socio-political issues through the medium of South Asian Arts, within different audience contexts. The members of the Collective come from diverse professional and artistic backgrounds. In 2022, the Collective was nominated for Creative Edinburgh’s Collaboration Award and in 2023-24 were awarded a one-year funded Artistic Fellowship with the University of Edinburgh and the Centre for Biomedicine, Self and Society. Their choreographic work caters not only to the general public, but also Academics interested in socio-politically rooted artistic work, Artistic Practice as research, and the South Asian diaspora.


Their choreographic works includes a repertoire of productions presented in multiple community and professional platforms, choreographed, and performed for diverse and prestigious festivals across Scotland and internationally. Their notable productions include Maiden | Mother | Whore,  “The Ticking Clock”, which was supported by The Work Room and National Theatre of Scotland and had a sold-out run in the Edinburgh Fringe 2022 and “What Draupadi said to Penelope”, a collaboration with community artists from Edinburgh, that also had a sold-out run in the Edinburgh Fringe 2023.

Beyond their choreographic work, they also aim to build an inclusive art community through their outreach work, and they take South Asian Art forms to multiple community, health, and third-sector contexts.


Click here for information about Theiyā Arts.

Artists & Collaborators

Concept, Choreography & Performance


Dr. Nandini Manjunath 

Himadri Madan 

Gaby Albornoz 

Karen Watts 

Tharanga Wicramasinghe 

 

Academic Collaborators


Dr. Agomoni Ganguli-Mitra

Dr. Ingrid Young 

 


 

Funders and Partners 

The National Lottery Funding  - Creative Scotland 

Centre for Biomedicine Self & Society

Dance Base - Artists Residency Programme. 

Southside Community Centre (Venue & Technical Support) 


Music:  Giulia Drummond


Projection Artist:   Robert Motyka


Lighting Designer:   Pete Searle


Set co-designers:   Aqsa Arif, Nazia Mohammed


Stage Manager:   Sanath Kumar, Paige Lillie


Creative Producers:   Melissas Rutnager, Susan Hay


Media and PR:   Storytelling PR



Steering Group (during Stage Two of development)

Anita Clarke (The Work Room)

Subathra Subramaniam (Akademi)

Tony Mills (Dance Base)

Fiona Alana Murray (CCRI at The Univerisity of Edinburgh)

Upcoming events

Download the programme.

Live Performances & Exhibition 

1st November 2024


12 and 7pm - Live performances

1.30 to 4pm - Exhibition only


An immersive, multi-media exhibition and durational performance exploring the complex intersections of women's embodied experiences, power and social structures.


Assembly Roxy, Edinburgh

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Live Performances & Exhibition 

9th November 2024


1.30pm - Live performances

3 to 4pm - Exhibition only


An immersive, multi-media exhibition and durational performance exploring the complex intersections of women's embodied experiences, power and social structures.


Southside Community Centre, Edinburgh

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Download the programme.

Live Performances & Exhibition 

15th November 2024


1 to 3pm - Connections in South Asian Dance 

Networking Event in Collaboration with The Work Room 

5.30 to 7pm - Performances & Exhibition


An immersive, multi-media exhibition and durational performance exploring the complex intersections of women's embodied experiences, power and social structures.


Civic House, Glasgow

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