Fall Festival of Indian Arts
Dakshina / Daniel Phoenix Singh Dance Company
Madhavi Mudgal and Arushi Mudgal
Leela Samson
The Lincoln Theater
Washington, DC
October 24, 2009 at 2 PM & 7:30 PM
by George Jackson
copyright 2009 by George Jackson
Disregard history! Ballet and India's classical dance are cousins! They share core traits! Perhaps they are just kissing cousins, because the evidence for a joint ancestor does not exist. Perhaps their similarities are the result of convergent evolution or their single origin lies in the inscrutable future. Whatever the explanation, allow me to state the case. Both forms are based on the body's side-to-side (bilateral) symmetry, and on its ability to stretch vertically and fold horizontally. Limbs articulate finely and hips turn out strategically. There are differences, of course. Being stretched is ballet's norm, its starting stance, whereas Indiadance proceeds from a folded form - a plie that in profile looks like a zigzag lightning flash. Classical ballet emphasizes the pointed toe, banishing the thrust heel to the category of character ballet, but in Indiadance the toe-to-the-fore and the-heel-to-the-rear alternate rhythmically. There's more - quite a few steps that are shared, and that both recognize the interplay for eye and ear of rhythmic beat (tala) with melodic line (raga). On, though, to the three remarkable women from India who gave substance to all my orisons.
The Mudgals, aunt and niece, are distinctly different individuals bonded by the ancient tradition of Odissi dancing. With her rounded form, hourglass contours and mature, expressive facial features, the aunt, Madhavi Mugdal, inhabits both the present moment and time past. It would be hard to date a snapshot of her. The niece, Arushi, is thin and long and young as a fashion manikin. Pictured in costume, she's from now but her clothing, ornaments and makeup are not. The differences of age and generation also show in how the aunt and niece dance.
Madhavi Mudgal moves across the floor (bourees en demipointe) with a buoyancy that's luxuriantly plush yet discreet. When she lands from a hop (very like a high pas de chat) the impact is so soft that one thinks of cushions and not flooring underfoot. Undoubtedly her well padded hips help make her motion so smooth. She has Bournonville bounce. Another attribute of her dancing is clarity. Her timing and shaping of small inflections as well as large gestures is done with consummate control. Nor is she shy about animating her thoughts. Even in a plotless number Madhavi Mudgal tells us how it feels to dance - anticipation, endurance and closure can be read on her face. She hasn't long arms but one notices when her hands open as if they were lotus blossoms heeding the sun's rays. Seeing her fingers trill like a coloratura negotiating an aria, is a thrill.
One can loose oneself in Arushi Mudgal's articulation of her long arms. The skill with which each joint is flexed or rotated is beyond being adroit. Balance is one of her strengths and she is able to shift the working leg without disturbing the composure of torso and supporting leg. What this trim body has not is her aunt's pliancy (there appears to be no padding anywhere). She uses her strong line and sharp angularity to project the image of a woman who is elegantly severe. Facial features that are more enigmatic than her aunt's also contribute to this image. Arushi Mudgal is the Viktoria Tereshkina of Indiadance.
Leela Samson, initially trained in the Bharata Natyam variant of Indiadance, has a shorter, rounder shape - like Madhavi Mudgal although not as padded in the hips. Her dances are poems of contrast - absolute stillness with sudden speed, maximum deceleration with minimal space in which to do it. Samson's epaulement is eloquent and she dances a smile as distinctive as any Leonardo da Vinci ever painted. Lips, eyes, eye brows and cheeks contribute - perhaps even the nostrils do. Hers is really a repertory of smiles, from the utterly blissful to one which could kill - she showed it just once in a piece about jealousy.
Most of the dances performed by the Mudgals and Samson were solos, although the former did one duo in parallel which really demonstrated the movement difference that a dancer's anatomy, age and generation make. Some of the dances had stories whereas others were invocations or games of pattern and perception. Dance critics in India fill most of their space writing about the stories whereas Westerners often say it isn't necessary to know the details of plot and character. Certainly, even the most dramatic of these dances work as design because Indiadance, like ballet, strives to achieve beauty. Knowing the specifics, though, can't hurt and might help understanding, so making the effort is worthwhile. It was particularly rewarding for "Ardhanarishwara", which is in the Mudgals' repertory (shown at the matinee) as well as in that of Samson (shown in the evening). The topic is androgyny - the male/female nature of god. Arushi Mudgal's version was very mimetic and yet mobile while Samson's was one of contrasting poses.
To savor such rare and refined fare fully, is it important to distinguish among several "schools" of Indiadance? Balletomanes pride themselves on being able to tell a Bolshoi dancer from a Maryinsky dancer. Frankly, I did not see all the school differences between the Mudgal's Odissi training and Samson's Bharata Natyam. Odissi is supposed to segregate head, chest and pelvis and emphasize a square stance.There were indications of the tripart division of the body but not of squareness. Bharata Natyam movement is supposed to flicker like a flame and have very expressive hands. No and yes, as far as I could see. Perhaps the dancers' individual differences obliterated the generic, particularly in percussive passages, but it might be that I just need more instruction in looking and more instances of Indiadance to see.
Dakshina, Daniel Phoenix Singh's Washington company, performed on the first half of both bills. It draws on dance from several traditions. In "Karna", choreographed by Singh and Aniruddhan Vasudevan, the use of Indiadance for a corps de ballet worked well. The emphasis on hands and arms in Singh's "Since You've Asked" gave this modern dance duet an Eastern flavor but the soundtrack - a poem in English, a song in French and silence - jarred. Singh's "Lila" looks like something folksy fused or confused on the road between East and West. I wish I had seen Alarmel Valli, the noted Bharata Natyam dancer, who was featured on October 23, the festival's first night.