'Improvisation in a solo context calls for confidence, conviction, and atmospheric awareness from the performer. Improvisation in a group context calls for one more ingredient: the performers’ responsiveness and attentiveness to each other. The instinct to lead is transformed by the need to listen.

In creating a work that unites two ferociously powerful artist acts, each of whom excels as improvisers in their respective grammars, I found myself struck by this push and pull of jointly improvising, the twin beauties of momentum and lingering. And then I thought of a word root in Tamil: kēḷ (கேள்). Kel relates to hearing or listening. In colloquial Tamil, though, Kelvi is a question. Perhaps, in joint improvisation, these two ideas – asking a question, listening for its answer – are equated. Perhaps in order to speak, in order to ask, in order to parley, we must first listen.'

- Shruthi Rajasekar