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 Kalpana - Ideas in Movement - Sumathi Krishnan Photos: Foto Minded November 24, 2019 Exquisite was written all over it. 'Kalpana - Ideas in Motion' by Agal Dance Company, directed by Vishnu Arunasalam held at ICE, Parramatta, was presented to an intimate audience on 9th November. The evening commenced with the showing of the film 'Our Country' produced by Agal Dance Company with the support of Blacktown City Council. 'Kalpana - Ideas in Motion' explored the views of its director, through the medium of his dancers and musicians who lent their imaginative explorations, in effect, responding to the stimuli that surrounds them today in Australia.   Brave and confident, the dancers have ventured out of their closed environs to show their world of art envisioned against the Australian landscape be it a busy Railway Station, a busy suburban road or the cityscape of Sydney or the vast and immense coastlines of Australia. The film captures and contrasts the existence of South Asian cultural presence in Australia. The artists were successful in presenting, through their artistry, South Indian Carnatic music and Bharatanatyam by juxtaposing movement and music against differing landscapes and rugged Australian surrounds with great delight, amazing photographic shots and directorial initiative. The film was conceived and directed by Vishnu Arunasalam, photography by Ramya Kuganathan, sound design by Bala Umashankar, makeup by Sahana Balachandar and jewelry by Valampuri. They next presented Nritya Lahari, an energetic piece set to raag Jog in a composition by M. Sukhi, imagined to dance by T. Shriram. The dancers were Chidambaram R Suresh, T. Shriram from Melbourne, Vishni Ravindran, Nikki Sekkar and Shobhana Suresh. This was followed by 'Quick Maths (Pancha Nadai) Alarippu,' a composition by Suresh Chidambaram whose mathematical ingenuity was mindbogglingly quick. Too quick, I would say, for it to reach out to a wider audience. But a worthy attempt. An inner monologue followed, in an interdisciplinary exploration of spoken word, poetry and sculpturistic imitation in movement (neo Karanas). Music by Kalmi 'Duduksa' was presented by K. Shriram, who explored the isolation and loneliness of a migrant battling racial and sexual identity crisis. A bold piece, presented with such sensitivity, there were no cringe worthy moments. The spoken word between 'paccha Thamizh' and English helped easily grasp, in a word, the diverse cultural existence we lead - one in our homes and another outside. With childlike innocence, the protagonist negotiated both complex issues of racial and sexual identity. The next piece deserves special mention as it was one of my favourites for this evening. 'In elements' was introduced as a part of a larger body of work. The dancers managed to capture the elements, without the usual cliched movements and choreography. The choreography extolled the theme and the music, through movement, rhythm and mime and was the standing glory of this piece. Choreography and concept was by Agal Dance Company, sound produced by Kiran Mudigonda and jathis composed by Suresh Chidambaram. Dancers were Suresh Chidambaram, Shobana Suresh, Nikki Sekkar.  Nikki Sekkhar's exploration of the contemporary Tamil poet Perumal Murugan in 'Songs of a Coward' was a good concept as it attempted to try and portray a poet's challenging life in standing up to let his political voice be heard despite suffering isolation. T Shriram again enticed his audience with his one legged portrayal of a peacock in the 'Poetry of Peacock' in Bharatha Nirtyam with music composition by Madurai R Muralidharan in an amalgamation of Bharatanatyam and Karanas. It was an unforgettable curation by Agal Dance Company. Look forward to its next curation. Sumathi Krishnan is an Indian vocalist, trained in both Carnatic and Hindustani music. As creative director & owner of Sydhwaney.com, she is promoting Indian classical performing arts for the last nine years. She develops and curates large cross cultural works like involving 100 to 150 community dancers in Ramayana - an Indonesian and Bharatanatyam collaboration. She presented Dreaming Damsel II involving spoken word with Western Sydney Artists in partnership with local council for the Sydney Fringe in 2017. |
