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Japanese danseuse doing Odissi proud
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Combining Japanese haiku with Odissi
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It all began during a social studies class when ten-year-old Masako Ono first saw a picture of the magnificent Taj Mahal in her textbook.
Mesmerised by the beauty of the edifice, coupled with the romance of its history, the young Japanese girl was amazed at India and its many legends. She instantly fell in love with India and took up India-Pakistan studies as a major in college.
Masako also learnt the Indian dance forms Bharatanatyam and Kathakali from Japanese teachers in Tokyo before zeroing in on Odissi as her choice when she watched the great maestro Kelucharan Mahapatra perform live. She arrived in India to learn Odissi at Nrityagrama in Bangalore, under the tutelage of the late Protima Gauri Bedi.
The gurukula was a tough place to live in but amidst self-service, intense yoga classes and all her chores the call of the dance made her determined to become a professional. Within a few years, the yearning to be a soloist consumed her and she moved to Orissa - the cradle of Odissi - and became a disciple of Guru Kelucharan.
Her yoga lessons continued for her and Pranayama became her life line. Today, she has a full-fledged studio "C-30" at Bhubaneswar and has performed more than 200 dance recitals at very prestigious platforms to speak volumes about her style and skills.
Masako combines the romance of Japanese haiku with the rhythmic nuances of Odissi and Western classical dance which she learnt from Martha Graham in the US, to create her own thematic styles. #When she dances it is as if the sculptures from the ancient temples of Orissa have come alive on stage and this yogini is the happiest in dance. When she she glides into her dance trance dressed in the beautiful Odissi costume, replete with crown and crest, the audience just forgets that she is not Indian!
Masako has choreographed and danced for Louis Banks and performed with luminaries like Pandit Vishwamohan Bhatt, Talat Aziz and the Japanese Prime Minister Ichiro, when he visited New Delhi a few months ago. She has also joined hands with noted Odissi dancer Rekha Tandon and Dafine Rusam from Italy to redifine Odissi through 'tantra'.
Her self-choreographed piece "Dance of the crane" has fused elements of Tai Chi, Ghi Gong and Flemenco and is performed to the music of the world famous Bambo Orchestra. Truly, here is a dancer who shows us how the dance expressions of various cultures can be amalgamated to reach a transcending form - touching higher echelons with ease.
Recently, this young dancer visited Vizag for the second time and fell in love with the virgin beaches here. She has decided to open a dance school in this city by this year-end.
"There is something very pure about the vibrations I feel here," says the yogini looking relaxed at Hotel Palm Beach. She is also getting set to offer corporate packages in "Yoga and the Art of Breathing for Life" in the city. Details can be had by dialling 93932-64360.
Vizag opens its doors to a brand new expressions - tantric waves - from a Japanese yogini and a Odissi expert!
MEENAKSHI ANANTRAM
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Mangalore
Pondicherry
Tiruchirapalli
Thiruvananthapuram
Vijayawada
Visakhapatnam
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