Salt Eaters is a site-specific interactive multi-sensory experience created by dance artist Mez Galaria with support from Theatre in the Mill and the Amal .

Salt Eaters is created specifically for small groups of women, an experience that transports them into the world, smells and sounds of Umda a Muslim dancer drawn out of the history books of Sambhar salt lake of Rajasthan.

It is based on historical records detailing the relationship between the moral ideology of salt as a communal resource and source of recompense for artists – a convention which was actively disrupted by the involvement of the East India Co across India and the subcontinent.

Salt Eaters will take place within a detailed yet fantastical recreation of the interior of a Haveli that can host multiple participants at one time for essentially a one-on-one experience. The installation will employ a panoramic sound design, hologrammatic film and sensory surprises to submerse audience members into an intimate recreation of a moment in the life of Umda.

This ritualistic experience is at the heart of Salt Eaters, participants will be enveloped in the sense of being in Rajasthan, witnessing the dance. On entering the space audience members will be greeted by Umda and her entourage and invited to take part in a tea ceremony served in a batekeeyas, accompanied by authentic desi chai and namkeen.

Three corners of the space will have their own installation design, a giant Salt pile slowly growing as salt falls from the ceiling, a hologram of Umda, and a series of musical instruments that ‘play themselves’ representing the band.