The Stage

Women Are From Venus

Published Friday 18 March 2005 at 10:45 by Katie Phillips

It is unusual to see choreographer Mavin Khoo’s classical Indian choreography in its purest form as we are more accustomed to his fusions of Bharatanatyam with ballet or contemporary dance. Refreshingly, there is no attempt here to fuse anything with anything and no sense of the dance trying to be something that it’s not.

If you are not an expert, it pays to know the break down of the word Bharatanatyam, the oldest of all classical dance forms in India - Bhava (expression), raga (music), tala (rhythm) and natyam (dance). The music is every part as important as the movement and consists of hyper complicated rhythms, haunting melodies and warm, euphonious singing.

While quite inaccessible to non-experts of the technique, the intricate hand, finger, face and neck gestures allow you glimmers of narrative here and there. In Shringara, Nina Rajarani’s solo transports the audience. You can almost feel the heat of India emanating from her stamping, jingle-belled feet. She has expressive eyes and there is something very endearing, humorous and entertaining in her expressions. I also found my eyes wandering to the musicians, who have a choreography of their own.

In the second piece the focus is drawn back to the dancers, who whirl and stamp with outstretched arms on a diagonal line and a deep, solid plie base. They pose and move with a hand over one eye to portray the half-blinded God, Shukra, and Khoo has abstracted the work slightly so that it is less concentrated on narrative and more on the concept of Venus within the Hindu aesthetic.