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nj.com - By Robert Johnson/The Star-Ledger The Star-Ledger
Festival spotlights Indian dance classics

Imaginoor Photography

Priyadarshini Govind

NEW YORK - When the Erasing Borders Indian dance festival debuted in 2008, political agendas were front and center.

The festival underscored the evolution of Indian dance by offering a platform to Diaspora artists.

Perhaps signaling how much Erasing Borders has grown, the first installment of this year's festival, presented by the Indo-American Arts Council and Trinayan Dance Theatre, embraced tradition. Last week's events included contemporary dance, but without apology presented classical artists Sujata Mohapatra and the outstanding Priyadarshini Govind direct from the motherland. Another featured performer, Prashant Shah, is based in New York but upholds the values learned at the feet of his guru.

Sharing the opening-night program at La MaMa ETC, Mohapatra and Shah offered dazzling examples of their respective genres: Odissi dance and Kathak. Here’s a point worth noting: While Indians borrow the English word “classical” to describe the dances from their temples and royal courts, the Sanskrit word for them is “shastriya,” pointing to their origins in the ancient theater treatise “Natya Shastra.” In this context, the word “classical” has a culturally specific meaning entirely separate from Western ballet.

Odissi is a sensuous form, all swaying curves and spirals. Yet, as Mohapatra demonstrated in a "pallavi" at once rigorous and free-spirited, harmony does not demand straight lines. The piece was exquisitely balanced with mirroring gestures that ornamented the dancer's figure as delicately as her silver jewelry, even as her feet and head kept up a rhythmic dialog with the music. Turning from pure dance to narrative, Mohapatra portrayed five different characters in an episode from the "Ramayana." Aglow with majesty as the hero-archer, Rama, she turned coy playing his consort, Sita, and disguised herself as the lusty demon Ravana. Relating the magical tale of Sita's abduction, Mohapatra also became an elusive deer and a pious vulture. What a tour de force!

Kathak, with its Persian influences, employs extreme speed and whirling turns ("chakkars") to transport the performer to a mystic realm. Although Kathak is a percussive form, the dancer stamping out complex rhythms does not sink into the floor but seems at times to float. Shah's performance displayed wonderful contrasts, with moments of sharp clarity, when his hand pointed compass-like in a single direction, and other moments of liquid transport.

Spinning, he seemed caught up in a whirlwind, looking down upon the audience from a cloud.

Bharata Natyam is yet a third form of Indian "classicism," characterized by its angular geometry. Yet in her phenomenal performance at Asia Society, Priyadarshini Govind reminded us what all great dancers, everywhere, have in common: beautiful lines, and a musculature so responsive that the body is capable of exceptionally precise definition. A gift like this, combined with years of dedication and musical sensitivity, place Govind among the greatest dancers of today. She is wonderfully expressive.

Govind has a powerful appearance, owing her height. Forthright and unsentimental, her personality naturally resists clichés. Her individuality impresses itself upon the familiar heroines of the Bharata Natyam repertoire - the alluring lover of Krishna and the grieving mother of a slain warrior - making them alive and present.

Perhaps her finest role is that of the woman who chastises her worthless lover, and, not without a moment of suspenseful indecision, triple-locks her door against his return.

A terrific musical ensemble accompanied Govind, with special praise due to the brilliant mridangist, V. Vedakrishnan.

Erasing Borders returns in August.

Robert Johnson: rjohnson76@nyc.rr.com

Source: http://www.nj.com/entertainment/arts/index.ssf/2012/04/erasing_borders_festival_spotl_1.html

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