Banor Nach (Monkey Dance)

A Glimpse into Local Live Art Traditions

 

As part of D’LAB 2019’s commitment to bridging contemporary and traditional performance practices, a special segment featured a local performer presenting the folk act Banor Nach—a centuries-old live art form where trained monkeys perform synchronized gestures, mimicry, and playful dramatizations under a handler’s direction. Rooted in rural entertainment and itinerant performance culture, this form reflects a deep, complex bond between human and animal, as well as performer and audience. D’LAB invited a traditional banorwala (monkey handler) to activate this disappearing practice within the context of live art discourse, encouraging reflection on ethics, agency, labor, and spectatorship. The inclusion of Banor Nach highlighted the blurred boundaries between spectacle and intimacy, tradition and contemporary critique, offering a raw, embodied experience that expanded the biennale’s diverse range of performative expressions.