DANZ QUARTERLY No 7 April 2007

Reviews

The Jewel In The Ocean Of Life: Pride, Power and Pathos
 Kanan Deobhakta Dance Co at Tempo° 06, Auckland 13 October 2006

Reviewed by Linda Ashley

A jewel; a refractive light-splitting lens used in watches to keep time; a personal ornament; a precious person or thing. All of these definitions apply to Kanan Deobhakta’s most recent programme of Indian classical dance.

Let me explain… The programme of four acts; Pride, Power of happiness, Power of destruction and Pathos, explores trust and betrayal, and how one may quickly bend its way around to become the other. Such flickering lights of fickle emotions are highly suited to the genre of Bharata Natyam. The mix of abstract and interpretative solos (a rigorous form in any genre) facilitated the audience’s encounters with a range of humanity, from gurus to despots. Today’s world, as we hear about in the media, daily.

This was a refreshing programme, in a ‘traditional’ dance genre. Kanan works within the nooks and crannies of her heritage and continually reinvents anew. She maintains a timeless pulse, but also ticks in time with contemporary concerns.

The luxuriant glamour of the production captivates, glitters, and is reflective of the precious philosophy we see on the movement surfaces. Pictures of our precious world – the simple, small things, that are easily overlooked, resonate in the refinement and delicacy of the mudras.

Then there are the soloists and the range of performance qualities. Pratima’s rhythmical poise and deceptive athleticism, explicit in the free flowing leg gestures. Kanan’s stage presence and ownership of the theatre space, float on the air out to the audience with the incense, redolent with elegance.

May such jewels in New Zealand’s dance community long maintain their translucence and our support.

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