|     |
|
| |
 Natya Fest in Munich - Brigitte C. Reichl May 16, 2024 This was my first time experiencing a festival of Indian dance and I was very excited to go there, together with a few friends I brought along. 'Natya Fest 2024, Indian Classical Dance Theater', took place in Anton-Fingerle-Zentrum in Munich, on May 4, 2024. I immediately liked the location - near public transportation, thus easy to get to, a large, open, well lit entrance hall, which provided room for a considerable crowd standing in line to get last moment tickets, several info points offering flyers on the program and a place where one could buy snacks and refreshments. The entire event was organised by Shubhada Subramanyam (Nityaa Arts Center) in association with The Consulate General of India, Munich. Since I was fairly early, I was successful in getting seats for myself and my friends which allowed an excellent view onto the stage. All in all though, I believe, that the stage could easily be seen from all seats in the auditorium. Punctually, at 5pm the events started with a lovely group of girls, dressed in colorful, beautiful Indian dress, appearing on stage. Then Shubhada Subramanyam and an announcer came on stage speaking introductory words, thanking the Consulate General of India, Munich, for supporting the event and introducing the Consul and the main attraction of the evening, the well-known artiste Dr. Vasundhara Doraswamy.  Dr.Vasundhara Doraswamy After introductions and lighting the candles in the shrine at the side of the stage, the dance event started. Neither I nor three of my friends had ever seen or been to an Indian dance performance. However, all of us were immediately intrigued by the very charismatic artiste Dr. Vasundhara Doraswamy who moved so gracefully yet expressively in the color-changing light on stage. One could see that dance has been her passion all her life to which she dedicated herself with all her heart and soul. It was a pleasure to watch her powerful solo act which lasted 1 hour and 7 mins. Fabulous, how easily yet elegantly she danced, wonderful to see her expressions and moves underlining the story. It left this viewer wishing to be as lively and flexible when reaching the age of Dr.Vasundhara Doraswamy. Despite this fantastic performance and the fact, that information about the dance and background had been sent beforehand via email, as a German who is not familiar with Indian dance nor the stories and mythologies about Hindu gods, it was quite difficult to follow the story. A few explanatory words were given during the performance in English, but it was hard to follow them. Considering that a large percentage of the audience was German and not so familiar with English, I recommend for next time to write up a summary in German and send it out beforehand via email and/or have printed copies on location on the day of the performance, so everybody can have a closer look and be informed. After the mesmerizing performance the break gave everybody the opportunity to freshen up, exchange thoughts and even have a little snack.  Shubhada Subramanyam The second half of the program started with an impressive solo performance by Shubhada Subramanyam, dressed in an eye-catching flaming orange and gold. Announcements were made alternatively by two ladies, one in English, one in German. They gave short information about the types of dance performed by the several Munich based dance groups. The performers showed classical Indian dance - Mohiniyattam, Kathak, Odissi and Bharatanatyam. It was a lively, joyful and vibrant presentation and I enjoyed very much to see the dancers almost flying and floating across the floor gracefully, the figures and moves looking light yet complex - the outfits in beautiful radiant colors, the music a sweeping, exciting rhythm which made it difficult to sit still. It was obvious that the entire audience (about one third Indian, two thirds German) also enjoyed the performance like myself. This was confirmed by the enthusiastic applause at the end of the evening.  Odissi dancers  Kathak dancers After the performance and the heartfelt thanks extended to everybody involved by Ms. Subramanyam, an authentic Indian 3-course-dinner catered by a local Indian deli was served. The visitors had a choice of sitting together while eating and speaking in one of the conference rooms or taking the food home. I decided for the first option and my friends and I had a good chat about the performance and got a chance to speak with and congratulate Shubhada Subramanyam on this well-organized and successful evening. To me this was an exciting and wonderful new experience, an exposure to a kind of art that I had little knowledge of and I truly enjoyed it. I would like to point out again though that understanding the Indian stories, would enhance the experience of watching the performance even more. Thus in my view, it would be necessary to present a German text of the mythology behind the dance. As far as the announcements of the various dance groups and their presentations goes, they were done in English and German, which was good, as far as understanding is concerned. Unfortunately, however, the lady who made the announcements in German, obviously, was not too familiar with the texts (it gave me the feeling she had been filling in for somebody else who was supposed to do the job) and so her announcements sounded somewhat haphazard rather than crisp and to the point. This certainly startled a few people. Concerning duration of the evening: while a couple of my friends thought that the first part could have been a bit shorter, I found it just right, but with the break absolutely necessary I could imagine though, to cut down the first performance to 55 or 60 mins and then shorten the pause. The evening, which was so professionally and excellently organized by Shubhada Subramanyam was a true a success and the many hours and effort she had put in were worthwhile and paid off. After all, for many of the German audience, it gave insight into another culture and thus furthered interest in getting to know more about it. For me it is clear, that I will definitely be there again for the next Natya Festival! Brigitte C. Reichl is an artist and educator based in Munich. |
