choreography
“When we were choreographing this production, we didn't know exactly what we were going to do, and it was on the way to the core of this work that we found out what we wanted to present.”
Read MoreAshwini explained that she wanted to find ‘the truth behind the mythology’; to dig deeper into the stories she had been told as a child and as a dancer, to find her personal connection to them. It was indeed refreshing to know that such an unpretentious curiosity, grounded in the classical form, could be supported by the Arts Council.
Read MoreA treat to see the distinctly different destinations that choreographic trajectories can take, especially when those journeys start off with shared classical vocabularies.
Read MoreAnd I can’t deny it; there’s a part of me that feels deeply satisfied to see the tables turned; to see contemporary dancers challenged by the demands of a Bharatanatyam choreographer.
Read MoreThe relatively simple technical sequence that opened their performance was marked by very clean footwork, effortless leaps, and expert rhythmic control. But the show was about much more than technical proficiency, and after this first jathi, things quickly became more complicated and risky.
Read MoreSwati came into her element during the varnam, and the rest of the evening followed with ease. Confident stillnesses were followed by explosive travelling sequences. Fast, clear footwork was followed by the graceful shaping of the upper body. The intensity of the Ardanarisvaram piece was followed by a humorous javali where Swati was extremely convincing as a young and frivolous protagonist, dismayed at the gossip that ridiculed her.
Read MoreI’m inspired to write about the time that Rama Vaidyanathan staged a tense psychological drama that revealed the potential for the age-old metaphor of Radha and Krishna to be definitively modern and relevant.
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