Sheer Fall... elevating thought
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Navtej Johar gave a delightful dance performance at the British Council the other day, says ANJANA RAJAN.
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NAVTEJ JOHAR'S dance performance, `Sheer Fall' at the British Council the other day was aptly named, aesthetically presented and well received by the mixed crowd. Based on the concept of a dream, it contains no overt narrative yet proceeds along its own logic - as dreams are wont to. When lost in a dream, the dreamer proceeds along the most mystifying of paths, and even if every step throws out a new surprise, never actually asks why the sequence of events is taking place.
Similarly, in `Sheer Fall', the dance movements led through their own logic from one section to another, so one did not need to search for a theatrical justification. Yet there was an amused, somewhat bemused feeling of curiosity as one followed the dancer through his paces, wondering, like Alice in her explorations, where he would set off next.
The final scene, where the dancer lies in a position like bhujanga asana (the cobra pose) of Yoga, while moving his right arm and feet as if flying or swimming, and `conversing' with the left hand held in a mukula hasta, was a delightful way to end. At times one was reminded of that marvellous veteran of Indian Contemporary Dance, Astad Deboo, though this kind of remark risks the censure of both the senior and junior artiste.
Set to a variety of music styles, the choreography displayed Navtej's Bharatanatyam training along with Contemporary Dance, though the laudable factor was how it flowed as an integrated whole.
Navtej, who choreographs his own pieces, is known as a performer of Bharatanatyam as normally recognised today while being able to shift easily to a contemporary style and theme.
Facial expression
Navtej gave that `Indian' touch to his performance by making use of facial expression and hand gestures - mudras - since neither of these aspects, extremely characteristic of the Indian classical dances, plays a major role in the dance arts of the West. While the Western Contemporary Dance techniques could be seen in his rolls and stretches on the ground, and some of the angles he took, the Bharatanatyam was discernable in the occasional striking of the feet, in the use of arms and fingers.
It is exciting to see the many different directions Indian dance and dancers are taking. While everyone may not agree with all the interpretations of what is modern and what is `acceptable' as Indian, it is only obvious that dancers will increasingly stretch the boundaries. The 20th Century was one of re-discovery of the heritage. Now that the traditional arts have been accepted and we can be said to be safely (if not wholly) out of the colonial syndrome, it is inevitable that the performers think more deeply and apply themselves to developing individual expressions.
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