MAHAKAVI the press play button

MAHAKAVI by Asthana Arts

17^th April 2010, Auditorium Taman Budaya, Kuala Lumpur

Mahakavi was a production based on the Bharati (a poet) from India and his works. His poet compositions helped rally the masses to support the Indian independence movement in South India.

After India’s independence, many of Bharati’s poems were adapted into songs as lyrics in many Tamil cinema numbers. Some of it was also sung in individual album. This current genre of music by using the poems was the music used in this production.

The show consists of dance and poem recitals or perhaps readings. There were nine dance pieces in between the narrations and the poem recitals. All the nine dance pieces were very interesting yet have wonderful glimpse of narrating the inner meanings of each poems. This shows the deep thought and understandings of the choreographers and performers.

The show started with the scene showing the death of the poet. Having dancers in all white carrying a corpse was an emotional sight. This piece became an entry point to further know about the contribution of the great poet.

Adjacent to the first piece, there was two other dance pieces which caught attention. “Sutrum Vizhi Chudar” and “Panchali Sabatham”. The poem Sutrum Vizhi Chudar which was adapted to a beautifully sung song was danced by two well trained dancers. The duet showed the mastering of rhythm and expression fused with some modern dance vocabularies. The merge of the beautiful song and the dance elevated the piece to an ethereal state. I would rank this as the best dance piece of the night.

The other was the Panchali Sabatham which was danced by five male and one female dancer. The story of a king whom looses his kingdom including his wife in gambling was cleverly choreographed using mainly expressions along with some simple movements. Although, there were no unisons movements, the piece was interesting as the legendary story was conveyed in a rare execution. Two thumbs up to the dancer played the character of the Saguni.  

All dance pieces in the showcase be it classical, fusion or contemporary was at its best.

However, I was perplexed between poem recitals and poem readings as the three artists whom were on stage to recite the poems read the poems from a Q-card they all hold in their hand. This was noticeable by the audience thus failed to deliver the emotion content and flow of the poems. Memorizing the poems in advance would be a wiser act.

Besides that, the poem readings botched to gel and merge with the dances. Therefore it was seen as two different elements in the showcase performed one after the other. More attentions should be given to the transitions between the dance pieces and the poems.

The show sidetracked after the final piece of the night when there was a speech by the honorary guest of the showcase. The objective of the production diverted further when there was some political remarks content of the speech. None of the audience expected that sort of a finale piece, I guess. Although there were some production’s commentary, it would be wiser if those sorts of notes were given only to the casts and members of the production rather than to the public. May be the speech was part of the protocol. Guess, that’s what politic is all about, huh?

In general, the showcase had some mind-blowing dance pieces danced by fine dancers which I think have potentials of standing on its own without the poem recitals (or readings). This showcase reflected the enrichment of the performing arts scene in the country. I’m seeing Asthana Arts moving towards the right path, keep it up.

Black File

Black File

Whoever thought that dance could address social issues?

Lakshman Balakrishnan did.

With Black File, he addressed the issue of injustice with dance. At the beginning of the dance, sound clips of people saying their names brought the audience into a state of nervousness while three men walked about the stage, occasionally pausing and raising their hands, symbolizing the act of pledge (patriotism) and imprisonment.

Abruptly, the sound clips stopped and in came a progression of rock music, during which their dances included movements of falling and hitting the ground, a symbol of oppression and grievances.

The highlight of the dance was when these three dancers appeared at the left side of the stage, laid on the floor, covered themselves with white cloths (a symbol of death and ironically, peace), and painted themselves with red paint (a symbol of blood). At the right side of the stage were four other dancers who dressed like chefs holding ladles in their hands. In front of these four dancers was a table with a variety of plastic fruits and vegetables, covered with a huge white cloth.

The chefs took away the cloth, looked at their hands while they transferred their ladles from one hand to the other with a fanatic and psychotic look at their faces, and then, with a horrifying and angry glance, they forcefully hit the fruits and vegetables with their ladles four times. This continued for another four times, and quickly, they covered the “spoils” with the white cloth and burst out in an evil laughter together.

While one’s interpretation may vary from the other, all can concur that the main gist was protest towards injustice. One may even go to the lengths of questioning the efforts of the authorities with regards to injustice. Perhaps and hopefully through this dance, awareness about injustice can be successfully created, questions will be raised, and answers will be the inspiration of pursuance.

By Jonathan Chu (www.asiadancechannel.com)