Friday, March 09, 2007

When life sets steps to your choreography

This is what you would see if abstract art came alive on stage.
She leaps from right to left, high up in the air and lands on the ground in a twirl.
There is no connection between the series of her movements, but yet they have a graceful flow.
Danseuse Revathi Salunkhe always spoke about the freedom of movements in contemporary dance. Her performance at a cancer survivor's fashion show, explained the core of her statement.

At first I wondered why she was jumping from one part of the stage to the other. She swirled and bent forward and backward. She held a pose for a few seconds... I had absolutely no clue as to what was happening. But as she came to the end of her presentation, with expressions becoming more vivid, the story she was narrating stood out more clearly. All of her movements made sense.

Revathi's dance makes you feel that each movement of yours - whether you jump, sway while you walk, switch from one stool to another or even sleep or sit in an awkward position - is a step in dance. And this I am guessing, is what she means when she says, "I pick my steps from the everyday movements in people's lives!"

Revathi, you suddenly make me want to dance - and I think I will make a brilliant performer (if not for the stage fright).