Dance Seminar - Georgetown Room, Key Bridge Marriott Hotel; Arlington, Virginia; 10 AM on October 3, 2015
“Don Quixote” – Terrace Theater, The Kennedy Center; Washington, DC; 2 PM on October 3, 2015
Madhavi Mudgal & Group – Terrace Theater, The Kennedy Center; Washington, DC; 7 PM on October 4, 2015.
by George Jackson
© 2015 by George Jackson
Like a comet she stands out among the more expected astral bodies even as she glides seamlessly to join their constellations. Her face emits a different light depending on whether she is dancing or miming. Her name is Madhavi Mudgal and she is an extraordinary performer, a skilled choreographer and a fine teacher. It could well be that her visit has been the apex of the entire dance season. She and her company gave the final presentation at this year’s UTSAV Festival but Mudgal also participated in the dance seminar, the topic of which was “Tradition vs. Innovation”. Another panelist was Sheejith Krishna, the choreographer and dramaturg of “Don Quixote” and, too, the dance actor who took the title role in this India version of Cervantes’s Spanish tale. Audiences for the 2015 or third annual iteration of UTSAV seemed to include more people than previously whose ancestry wasn’t from India.
At the panel, all the speakers as well as those commenting from the audience agreed that there could be no innovation without a tradition, so the session’s title ought to have been “Tradition & Innovation”. The two artists visiting from India, Mudgal and Krishna, were joined by three Indiadancers performing or teaching in America: Mythili Prakash (moderator of the session), Lakshmi Swaminathan and Shruthi Mukund. Mudgal insisted that there be truth in dance. She mentioned the importance of music and mathematics, of proportion and control. That even modern dance has become a tradition seemed to amuse her. Krishna was concerned with the sharing of traditions in a shrinking world. Swaminathan spoke of being an ambassador as well as a teacher and in “remote Maryland” having to explain the difference between India Indians and American Indians. Mukund mentioned making tradition relevant. Moreover, she has learned from other traditions and incorporates such techniques as floor work (Tieftanz) into Indiadance. One audience member worried about good and bad innovation. Another was curious about what classic dances will look like a hundred years from now. Still another listener stated that a theater audience sees very differently than a dance audience. Sitting in the audience, Sunil Kothari – dean of India’s dance critics – tried sagely to sum up the conversation.
“Don Quixote” as a dance play from India differs from versions done as Western ballet.There are no bonus characters such as the ballet’s Kitri and Basil, nor does one miss them. The libretto used by Sheejith Krishna sticks close to the 17th Century novel. Among the prime ingredients of this Sahrdaya Foundation production are narration, dialogue, pantomime, scenic projections, music and dance. The dancing is based on India’s emphatic Bharatanatyam style, but the choreographer has modernized the movement, paring it down. Groups are often gathered in bold block formations. Krishna succeeds in giving the stamping feet of Indiadance technique a Spanish flavor not just because of the flouncy women’s costuming but with a flamenco emphasis on hips and arms (elbows especially). I am aware that time in India is more spacious than in America. Nevertheless, Krishna could have used an editor. We see such things as the buffoonery between the Don and Sancho Panza, the vision of Dulcinea wafting amidst dryad-like beings, the nobility’s cruelty, etc. drawn out too long. This “Don Q” lasts well over two hours without intermission.
Mudgal alternated solos and group dances, joining in some of the groups. Her 60th birthday happened on this weekend, which seems incredible when one watches her dancing full out. The buoyancy of her walk forwards or backwards, the pliancy of her bends that fold the knees or arch the midriff, the gentle ease of her jumps are youthful. More than that, her face is expectant, there are no shadows, no folds as she shapes a pulse or spins a line. When miming, Mudgal looks more mature. The variety of different feelings that pass over her features when she acts out a pair of lovers teasing each other is like a game of clouds and sunbeams played by impish winds. Among the program’s seven selections there was story telling, mood shifting and almost abstract design. Mudgal’s choreography, some of it in collaboration with the guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, is astute in balancing simple contrasts of direction, shape and timing with intricate interlacings and polyrhythms. Quite traditional was the program’s overall staging, with musicians seated on a platform at the left and votary candles burning on the right. There was some floor work, both in a Mudgal solo and in a dance for the group. All members of the dance group, a small one, were young women polished like pearls by Mudgal in the mellow Odissi style of Indiadance.
With other dance happening in the Washington area at the same time as UTSAV (which means festival or celebration), I missed the all-music events.