Belconnen
Arts Centre 20th August 2016.
Reviewed by
Bill Stephens
Prolific
local dance maker, Liz Lea, seized the opportunity presented by the visit to
Australia of celebrated Indian classical dance artist, Seeta Patel, to arrange
this eclectic program of Indian dance. Seeta Patel specialises in Bharata
Natyam, a particular strand of Indian classical dance which Lea also studied
for some years while living in London.
Apart from
performances by both Patel and Lea, the program also featured several local
professional Indian dance exponents, including husband and wife team, Jenni
White and Mahesh Radakrishnan, who, following a short introduction by Lea, and
the showing of a short film giving an insight into Seeta Patel’s classical
practice, commenced the program with a mesmerising performance of “Ashtapadi
No. 19”.
The storyline
of the song sung by Radakrishnan, accompanying himself on a drum, was
gracefully interpreted by White, beautifully costumed in traditional dress, and
incorporating the sophisticated vocabulary of sign language based on gestures
of hands, eyes and face muscles inherent in the Bharata Natyam style. It was a
beautifully executed performance which set the standard for the rest of the evening.
Also wearing
spectacular traditional costumes, Vanaja Dasika and Suhasini Sumithra, dancing
to a recorded soundtrack, performed an energetic duet, entitled “Shivashtakam” in
Kuchipudi style. For the duration of this dance, the perfectly synchronised dancers
mirrored each other’s gestures throughout the long series of complex eye, hand
and foot movements to interpret the cycle of death and rebirth in the world of
Lord Shiva.
Between
these two items, Liz Lea, an extraordinary dancer in her own right, performed
two contrasting pieces. The first, “The Incense” is Lea’s reinterpretation of a
piece originally choreographed by Ruth St Denis in 1906 in which a temple
dancer makes offerings to the Gods. Costumed in a bejewelled, diaphanous blue
costume, Lea’s superbly controlled, graceful movements perfectly captured the
mystical mood suggested by Henry Worthington Loomis’ evocative music.
 |
| Liz Lea performs "The Incense" |
Her second
offering was “When Tagore met Einstein – or part thereof”, a piece created by
Lea in response to a 1930 conversation between Rabindranath Tagore and Albert
Einstein. Having seen an earlier version of this work, it was fascinating to
have the opportunity to revisit it and observe how Lea has utilised her
knowledge of the Bharata Natyam technique to hone and refine it.
Performed to
a recording of Lea’s voice repeating the exchange between the two men, Lea
takes her cue from words that the men utter, to create movement passages, which
she punctuates with subtle facial expressions and traditional gestures to
clarify and underline the arguments. As the work progressed, spontaneous little
laughs and vocal acknowledgements from the audiences indicated how successful
her efforts had been in translating this unlikely source material into an
engrossing dance work, which will no doubt continue to evolve in future
performances.
The final
section of the program was given over to Seeta Patel, who performed two pieces
of which the first, “Patra Prevesham – Ananda Nartana Ganapatim”, choreographed
by Mavin Khoo, proved to be a miniature compendium of the Bharata Natyam
technique.
 |
| Seeta Patel in performance |
Describing
the dancing form of the elephant headed god, Ganesha, the work cleverly
encapsulates all the hallmarks, the fixed upper body, the flexed knees, the
complex footwork, the hyper-extended fingers, the use of eyes and facial
expression, all meticulously interpreted by Patel in one engrossing
masterclass.
Not waiting
to recover her own breath, Patel then held her audience spellbound with a
description of her next dance, “Padam (Theruvil Vaaraano) – Raga Kamas”,
telling the story of a young Tamil woman waiting in anticipation for the Lord
Shiva to pass by her home in a procession. She followed her flawlessly spoken description
with a performance in which every nuance of the story was etched on her face
and body with such stunning clarity that it was impossible not to be deeply
moved.
It was a
masterful and memorable performance on which to end an extraordinary evening of
insights into a highly refined art form.
In the Q
& A, conducted by Dr. Michelle Potter after the performance, Seeta Patel
proved just as eloquent with words, as she was with dance, as she responded to
enthusiastic questions posed by her audience.
An edited version of this review was first published in the digital edition of CITY NEWS on 21st August 2016.