The
Playhouse Canberra Theatre Centre – 25th September
Reviewed by
Bill Stephens
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| Surupa Sen - Bijayini Satpathy Photo: Nan Melville |
Watching the
dancers of the Nrityagram Dance Ensemble it was impossible not to be reminded of
those statues of Indian temple dancers striking exotic poses. Not surprising
when you realise that the exquisite dancers you are watching on stage are
performing exactly the dances that inspired those poses.
The three
dancers with the Nrityagram Dance Ensemble, Surupa Sen, Bijayini Satpathy and
Pavithra Reddy, have devoted more than
20 years of their lives to preserving the art of Odissi dance, and ancient and sensual
dance-form on performed in temple courts for kings.
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| Pavithra Reddy - Surupa Sen - Bijayini Satpathy Photo: Nan Melville |
Six days a
week, twice a day, they rehearse twice a day perfecting the intricate moves
which involve the whole body, especially the eyes, feet and legs and of course
the beautiful finger movements.
Appearing in
Australia for the first time, as part of the ambitious Confluence Festival of
India in Australia, the Nrityagram Dance Ensemble consists of the three dancers
and four musicians. The musicians sit cross-legged on one side of the stage,
and play a drum, a violin, a flute and a wood accordion. One of the musicians
also sings to accompany some of the dances.
Otherwise
the stage is bare, apart from the musicians and a decorated deity figure
positioned in a spotlight on the opposite corner to the musicians. Subtle
lighting suggests various moods so that the attention of the audience is
squarely focussed on the performances of the sumptuously costumed dancers.
This performance
commenced with candles being placed before the deity heralding the entrance of
each of the dancers to pay homage before launching into a trio for which the
three dancers moved in perfect unison and synchronisation. This dance allowed
the audience to appreciate the subtleties of the Odissi technique perfected by
the dancers over years of devoted practice.
The dancers
then performed a succession of exquisite solos, duets and trios. Perhaps the
most memorable being a first century prayer for which the solo dancer executed
a series of intricate hand, eye and body movements which perfectly interpreting
the meaning of each word.
Frustratingly,
there were no printed programs to accompany the performance, so that the
audience had no way of knowing which dancer was performing which dance, and
although some items were preceded by a cultured voice-over announcement, the
unfamiliar names were meaningless.
This was an
unfortunate oversight, as these dancers and musicians are among the countries
most accomplished artists who have devoted their lives to becoming guardians of
some of India’s most important cultural history.
On
discovering the lack of programs, this reviewer approached an accompanying
official to request details, only to be directed to the Confluence website
where, the official assured, full details would be found. However, apart from
some general information about the company, there are no names of dancers or
musicians or of the items performed, on this website.
The names in
this review are extracted from the captions on the photographs on the website.
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| Bijayini Satpathy Photo: Shalihi Jain |
