Tanjore beats in the LAND OF BAGPIPES
Sohini Roychowdhury yet again mesmerised audience with her Bharatanatyam recital in Scotland
Love is the only reality and it is not a mere sentiment. It is the ultimate truth that lies at the heart of creation - Tagore.
‘Sohinimoksha World Dance and Communications’ rewrote this mantra of love and eternity yet again through a scintillating dance opera in the land of Robert Burns and bagpipes, at the iconic Byre theatre at St Andrews in Scotland.
Creating her style of dance opera by redefining the Tanjore vocabulary in its avantgarde makeover, Sohini Roychowdhury yet again mesmerised the audience with a Bharatanatyam recital that was a fusion of poetry, protest and prayer. She was accompanied on stage by Kristina Veselinova from Bulgaria and Farah Daoud from Iraq, who have learnt this art from Sohini in Madrid and have performed extensively in India and Europe.
The show opened with a magical performance on Durga, celebrating women all over the world and ended with a global mantra of Sufism, Gregorian and Vedic chants with its message of global oneness and a world without frontiers.
Performed with exquisite grace, athletic movements and rhythmic rigour, the powerful storytelling left the audience spellbound. The graceful and energetic performance of Kristina in her rendition of a ‘Padam’ was indeed laudable. It was a 10-minute-long piece on Shiva interspersed with technical phrases and poetry, which was beautifully choreographed by Sohini with abstract dance, ‘abhinaya’, leaps and pirouettes that enthralled the audience.
The ‘Thilaanas’, rigorous, exquisite and like poetry in motion, was executed meticulously at high speed. It was a very dynamic treatment of the stage with a globally relevant message that resonated with everyone.
Farah’s performance was intense and rigorous. Dancing to the fast-paced rhythmic cycles, she was graceful in her carefully balanced postures and precise in her footwork. Her performance spoke of passion and true love of Bharatanatyam.
Sohini ended the show with a 20-minute-long ‘Dasavataaram’ - the 10 reincarnations of Vishnu - which was completed through storytelling with dance from the ‘Vishnu Puranas’. The audience was captivated by the exemplary fusion of abstract dance, ‘abhinaya’ and the storm on the stage that Sohini created with her body, mind and soul, thus transporting the audience into a world of enchantment and mythology.
At the finale, Sohini and artistes Kristina and Farah danced with a candle on ‘Jai Jagdish Hare!’, praying for peace on earth and the sustenance of humanity. It was truly a performance that reminds one of our first and only identity - of being human.
‘I AM’ at the iconic Byre Theatre was indeed a dance opera that celebrated humanity as a whole. Sohini’s philosophy and language of dance went beyond Bharatanatyam to create an aura of global harmony and faith; to heal and hope and to be.
The Byre Theatre is an iconic sprung theatre in Scotland in St Andrews, a part of the St Andrews University, where His Royal Highness William and Her Royal Highness Kate have been students. The audience resonated with the happiness of Tanjore beats and the philosophy of the Vedas, the stories of the ‘Puranas’ in the land of Robert Burns and bagpipes, thus connecting civilisations to heal and hope to step into a better tomorrow.