Stravinsky’s "The Rite Of Spring", has been the subject of at least 150 productions worldwide since it’s riotous premiere in Paris in 1913, but its latest incarnation is the first to fuse East and West. This iconic ballet’s reputation for innovation endures as award-winning choreographer Seeta Patel reworks it in the form of Bharatanatyam, a (South) Indian classical dance.
To whet your appetite for what’s to come, the show starts with an opening performance called “Occupying The Fifth” from The Nataya Project, an apprentice dance company for budding, young, South Asian dancers. The piece, choreographed by Patel, creates an ensemble work of abstract Bharatanatyam to Beethoven’s Symphony No.5 using crisp, rhythmical footwork to accent the layers of music. A guest music performance by Heather Bills follows, and while her rendition of Bach’s cello suite 1 was powerful, it felt a little odd not to have the dancers return to the stage to continue the marriage of western classical music and indian classical dance.
While Bharatanatyam is traditionally a solo dance form, Patel has six dancers take to the stage for the main piece. Stravinsky’s score is composed in two parts, the first depicts a pagan ritual celebrating the coming of Spring, after which a young girl is chosen as a sacrificial victim and dances herself to death to appease the Gods. The first part of the performance is like a game, the dancers use intricate footwork and dynamic, geometric movements to re-tell the pagan folk story. They chase, push and pull with an excited, youthful energy, working together yet not physically touching to create a building frenetic atmosphere. Just as the piece feels as though things are getting violent and out of control the piece slips into an ethereal, dream like sequence, this time backed by beautiful Indian vocals from Roopa Mahadevan.
The Chosen One, in this production a young male, is the focus for the interlude. He is showered with love, warmth and adoration from the other dancers, almost in preparation for the sacrifice, before Stravinsky’s score takes hold once more. The choreography continues, this time in a more ritualistic way, as the complexity of the music, and the fate of The Chosen One unfolds.
Seeta explains “The work has such a range of emotions within it and a strong narrative undercurrent that also lends itself to the richness of the Bharatanatyam form. This music and Bharatanatyam were really made for each other.” And I have to admit, the dramatic, rhythmic and expressive Bharatanatyam moves lend themselves to Stravinsky’s piece perfectly, creating a manic, earthy and primitive atmosphere. All in all the performance is a wonderful explosion of two very technical, powerful and evocative art forms.
Patel’s ‘The Rite Of Spring’ has been primarily supported by The Bagri Foundation and was co-commissioned by Sadler’s Wells, The Place, Birmingham Hippodrome, Curve, The Lowry, Pavilion Dance South West, Dance 4 and Akademi as part of their 40th anniversary. It is also further supported by Arts Council England, British Council, Dance City, Kala Sangam, Spin Arts and Yorkshire Dance.
Reviewer - Becs McNeill
on - 13/5/19
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