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 Transcending communities and cultural boundaries - Divya Ravi e-mail: divyaravi1891@gmail.com Photos: Vipul Sangoi November 14, 2019 Culture, the role the arts can play, and the expectations from the arts have undergone a paradigm shift over the years. It, however, cannot be denied that the underlying ambition of art practitioners and curators remains the same - to connect, to inspire, to inform and to shift perceptions. With an ambition along these lines, Anusha Subramanyam, noted Bharatanatyam dancer (Kalakshetra alumnus) and curator and her husband, Vipul Sangoi, a Visual Communications professional, run Beeja, an organization that has collaborated, curated and co-produced dance festivals with local organisations and venues in Croydon, a town in south London. Beeja's intentions are crystal clear - to create access to the contemporary dance scene in Croydon through curated performances, training opportunities and commissioning artistes. The couple, through Beeja, intend to nurture a thriving contemporary dance scene in Croydon by engaging both existing local dance communities and new audiences for contemporary dance. Over the last 20 years, Beeja has created performances for stage and alternative venues across London. In 2014, Beeja relocated to Croydon and ever since, has found purpose in developing dance in the borough - the success of ventures like Dance Festival Croydon 2015 and Big Dance Bus Croydon 2016 bear testimony to this. This year, the Dance Festival Croydon, supported by Croydon Council in partnership with Dance Umbrella (a premiere organization for contemporary dance in London) showcased four events of contemporary dance between April and October 2019 across various venues. Fairfield Halls, Croydon, played host to the 'Courtyard Kutcheri' at Arnhem Foyer, and the much sought after Mythili Prakash in her latest work 'Here and Now' at Ashcroft Playhouse. The Foyer - A focal point Anusha, who is also the Artistic Associate for developing Community Dance at Fairfields Hall, recalls fond memories of attending 'kutcheris' in courtyards of South Indian homes. These reminiscences laid the foundation for her conceptualization of the 'Courtyard Kutcheri', bringing colour and character to the mayhem of the foyer, whilst providing a showcase opportunity for a plethora of local artistes. The first segment featured a Hindustani vocal concert by Prachi Ranade, accompanied by Dr. Rajesh Deodhar on the harmonium and Amol Koldikar on the tabla. This was followed by Indian classical dance presentations, by the up-and-coming as well as established talents of Croydon.  Sankari Mridha  Upahaar School of Dance Making classicism relevant The lights then shifted into the Ashcroft Playhouse auditorium for Mythili Prakash and ensemble's well-conceived and impeccably presented 'Here and Now.' Last year, Dance Umbrella invited established artistes to each nominate a 'choreographer of the future' as part of Four by Four to celebrate Dance Umbrella's 40th anniversary. Akram Khan chose Mythili Prakash, and she was commissioned to present 'Here and Now.' 'Here and Now' is a reflection of Mythili's relationship with time as a mother and artist, a very relatable concept for most to appreciate and understand, yet a theory very challenging to translate into movements. The exploration of this topic takes the audience back to Mythili's childhood bedtime story about Narada and Maya (illusion), which she heard from her grandmother and which she continues to narrate to her child. The 50-minute presentation was packed with powerful imageries that were largely interpretative, lyrical content in musical passages and intelligently woven movement vocabularies that effectively portrayed an abstract concept like time. Knee swirls that depicted the process of being torn apart between roles as a professional and a mother and delineation of softer moments such as motherly affection and being embraced by a beloved were all so uniquely thought and palatably portrayed by Mythili.  Mythili Prakash Photo: Guycorbishley Despite the narrations in the audio being fuzzy for the front row seats (owing to the auditorium acoustics, perhaps) the musical effects by the live musicians seated behind Mythili impressed, and how! Enchanting vocals by Sushma Somashekaran and power packed mridangam and rhythms by Sumesh Narayanan, transposed over a pre-recorded track were highly impactful. Sushma's mellifluous rendering of the lyrical segments added much flavour to the presentation. Lighting design was tastefully done by Guy Hoare, but for this writer, marginally incremental lighting on the artiste's face would have enhanced the emotional impact, especially during the intense segments that were abhinaya driven. If leaving a performance at a different emotional / intellectual / spiritual note than what you arrived with is what defines the success of a performance, 'Here and Now' scores! Divya Ravi, labelled as a 'thinking dancer', is a promising Bharatanatyam soloist with various performances at coveted national and international festivals to her credit. |
