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NARTHAKI PREVIEW |
Swaha: Rituals of Union, the latest evening of Odissi dances by Trinayan Dance Theater, expands the boundaries of Odissi dance in many path-breaking ways. Not only is it unusual for a New York-based group of dancers to be included in a (what used to be called) ‘avant garde’ performing arts festival, the New York International Fringe Festival, but it brings together dancers from different gurukuls and also makes an attempt at extending the boundaries of Odissi, while exploring it’s inner spirit. To date Odissi dancers have been relatively conservative about staying with one shaili or school. Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra’s having had the most students for a while, today the Deba Prasad Das has gained some prominence thanks to the efforts of his senior disciples like Guru Durga Charan Ranbir and Ramli Ibrahim, and dancers like Leena and Leesa Mohanty, and Jyoti Srivastava. The two directors of the show, Taiis Pascal-Charles and Leena Mohanty, too, belong to this gurukul as does Bani Ray who in many ways established this shaili in New York. Sonali Mishra is a student of Sujata Mohapatra and thus belongs to the Kelubabu gurukul, Shaleen Singh through her guru to that of Mayadhar Raut. While a dance tradition is definitely enriched by being represented by many different & distinguishable schools (as opposed to one single style), cross-fertilization is a source of growth. With the production Swaha: Rituals of Union, a group of New York-based dancers from different Odissi gurukuls band together to explore the tradition both in terms of different styles as well as the boundaries of the form itself. On the one hand they present 20th century master works by their gurus – a Ganesh Mangala Charan by Kelucharan Mohapatra , a moksha by Deba Prasad Das. On the other they branch into more contemporary 21st C – and even global - views of the dance form: Darshan, which opens the program is a solo set to the gayatri mantra sung by Shankar Mahadevan, and Love in Separation explores a non-literal way of moving to sung poetry. Moreover the two-parts of the latter (a work-in progress by choreographers Bani Ray and Ms Pascal-Charles) are set respectively to New Age music and an original commissioned score based on Hindustani music. Co-director Pascal-Charles captures the essence of the evening when she says, “I interpret the word “swaha” spoken during yagnyas (auspicious Vedic ceremonies around the sacred fire) asthe mantra and vibrating sound that connects the earth and the heavens”. The essence of Rituals of Union comes out of a lifelong devotion to Odissi and - most of all - to its presiding deity, Lord Jagannath. With five performances spread out during a vibrant festival like the Fringe, they bring this sense of Swaha to a whole new audience for Indian dance and music. with Sonali Mishra, Leena Mohanty, Taiis Pascal-Charles, Bani Ray, and Shaleen Singh. |