In an age of relentless speed and constant distraction, the work of Kiran Kumar, an interdisciplinary artist, stands out as a profound call to pause, reflect, and reconnect—with ourselves, our bodies, and the world around us. Born in Bangalore, India, in 1983, Kumar is not just a dancer or a performer; he is a thinker, a writer, a researcher, and above all, a seeker of deep truths through movement.
His practice doesn’t fit into neat boxes. It is a richly woven tapestry of science, art, and ritual, rooted in ancient somatic traditions like Haṭha Yoga, Kaḷaripayaṭṭu, and Odissi temple dance, yet in constant dialogue with contemporary forms of multimedia expression, digital installations, writing, and ethnographic inquiry. He is a modern mystic moving through academic corridors, performance halls, and virtual archives with the same fluid grace that he brings to the dance floor.
Kiran Kumar: From Engineer to Embodied Explorer
Kiran’s story began conventionally. A brilliant student, he pursued Mechanical Engineering at the National University of Singapore. But midway through that path, he encountered something unexpected—the calling of movement.
It wasn’t through a formal studio or a revered guru. It was through Bollywood dances on television. As a child, he found joy in mimicking the rhythms of Indian cinema in his living room. As a young man in college, he was captivated by the creative freedom of choreography. What started as casual dancing at the NUS Centre for the Arts evolved into something deeper—an insatiable curiosity about the body, movement, and meaning.
After juggling engineering and a day job as an IT analyst, Kumar made a bold decision in 2010. He left Singapore and leapt into the unknown—pursuing an MFA in New Media Art at the City University of Hong Kong, followed by an MA in Solo Dance Authorship at the University of the Arts Berlin. It wasn’t just a career shift. It was a spiritual pivot, a return to the body and its wisdom.
Beyond Performance: The Body as Archive and Text
Unlike traditional performers, Kiran Kumar isn’t fascinated by the spotlight. His true interest lies in dance as a process rather than a presentation. As he says, “The act of dancing excites me, but dancing – dancing-the idea and awareness of being seen–is a whole other thing.”
This ethos has led him to invent new modes of expression—essay-performances, audio installations, and archival exhibitions—that interrogate what dance can be, who it is for, and how it is remembered. One of his most striking concepts is “expanded writing”—a practice of using autoethnographic journaling and grounded theory to document and reflect upon movement.
In his own words, when the artist becomes the ethnographer of their work, writing transforms into a living body—one that holds not only memory but the seeds of future creation. His quote, “These texts not only become the material remnants of transient artistic practices, they can also become sources of new work in themselves,” captures the essence of this vision.
Kiran Kumar: Distilling the Dance – Making the Invisible Visible
In his showcase “Distilling the Dance”, Kumar brought together his diverse practices into a singular experience. The four-part presentation featured:
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“Dear Dead Dancer” – an essay-performance weaving personal reflections with movement,
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“There is No Dance” – an audio installation where the visitor becomes the dancer,
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“Expanded Writing” – a living library of notes, diaries, and ethnographic writings,
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Workshops – interactive spaces of embodied learning and exchange.
His intention was not just to showcase but to transform the audience into participants, inviting them to inhabit the spaces of dance in their bodies and imaginations.
The influence of spell#7’s “Desire Paths”, a performance with no performers, left a lasting impact on Kumar. “Am I drinking tea because I want to or because I’ve been told to?” he asked, reflecting on the subtle performativity of everyday actions. This sparked a deeper line of inquiry—can presence itself be the performance? Can we reclaim dance from the stage and return it to the breath, the body, the moment?
The Global Voice of Kiran Kumar, Interdisciplinary Artist
Kiran’s journey has earned global recognition. His works have graced the stages and galleries of:
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Jeu de Paume, Paris (2019)
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Singapore Biennial (2022)
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21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa (2023)
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Festspielhaus Hellerau (2020)
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Gessneralle Zürich (2022)
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Malmö Konsthall (2023)
His writings have found homes in esteemed publications such as Archive Books, Performance Research Books, Transcript Verlag, and K-Verlag. He has held artistic fellowships with Dance Nucleus, Volkswagen Foundation, Serendipity Arts Foundation, and Akademie Schloss Solitude, to name just a few.
He is also the co-founder of the Sono-Choreographic Collective—a transdisciplinary trio with Kerstin Ergenzinger and Bnaya Halperin-Kaddari—exploring the entanglements of sound, movement, and space.
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