Ashwaty Chennat & Alvin Cobb, Jr.
Movement artist Ashwaty Chennat and musician Alvin Cobb, Jr. comprise a collaborative duo, whose work merges Carnatic and Black American dance and musical traditions.
Watch the Duo’s Performance
Movement artist Ashwaty Chennat and musician Alvin Cobb, Jr. comprise a collaborative duo, whose work merges Carnatic and Black American dance and musical traditions. Their collaboration is inspired by similar experiences with mental health and its role in their childhood homes. Seamlessly alternating between choreography and improvisation, they create a cross-cultural conversation through non-verbal expression. Chennat currently resides in Albany Park and Cobb in Rogers Park.
In this performance, Ashwaty Chennat and Alvin Cobb, Jr., present a reduced excerpt from their original work, Beaten Path, which is a three-movement, introspective dance suite that merges Carnatic (commonly associated with southern India) and Black American influences. Beaten Path is a reflection on journeys of mental health within the context of home and family. It originally premiered as a work-in-progress during the 2019 Mandala Makers Festival at Arts + Public Life's Green Line Performing Arts Center on Chicago’s South Side.
Above photo of Ashwaty Chennat by Rich Rankin,
Above photo of Alvin Cobb, Jr. by Sarah Hiatt