Choogh Choogh is a performance work inspired by the joy for travelling through India on a train. It combines classical Indian dance with contemporary movement, theatre and play, sharing with audiences a world full of colour, invention and flow. The journey starts with the audience getting a special choogh choogh ticket. Artists weave a traveling tapestry with three scarves, morphing from one scene to the next as the sights, sounds and smells whiz by. The sound scape is rich with the sounds of the train, hawkers, festivals, musicians, ambient sounds of river, jungles and cities. The artists sing songs which are specially written for children – Chai Chai, Coffee Coffee and Kites Kites everywhere. They interact with the audience, engaging their imagination. Scarves become steam, railway tracks, turbans, train windows, camel, elephant and so much more. It is a journey where audience experience world inside the train, through the train and outside it. Along the way the ticket gets checked, imaginary food is sold and shared, among other interactions. This show is an exploration of just how much we can see and imagine, together, as the train chooghs chooghs on. 

Performance is followed by a ‘stay and play’ session to give children a first-hand glimpse of India. 

Suitable for families with children age 1-7years. 

The work is a Beeja presentation and is conceptualised by Anusha Subramanyam and Vipul Sangoi.

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