Bharata Natyam & Bollywood with an Attitude: inDANCE’s show in New York, May 27, 2009

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DesiClub-South Asian Times, New York, May 27, 2009

Bharata Natyam & Bollywood with an Attitude: inDANCE’s show in New York

by Raj S. Rangarajan

It's dance with a difference, its "classical Bharata Natyam" with an attitude: its kicks and sidekicks, its shivers and sputters, its jives, jumps and jumpsuits, its tradition and a cerebral irreverence for the traditional.

What do you call that? Thinking outside the box? More than an explosion of talent, it was an evening that celebrated free expression and originality not to ignore the creative fluid energy that comes with being unrestrained, unshackled and unusual.

It was Toronto-based inDANCE troupe's debut in New York at Joyce Soho in downtown New York. Artistic director, Hari Krishnan, an accomplished dancer himself, who has performed in several parts of the world including the U.K., Toronto, Malaysia, Singapore and India, says, "the objective of the fun-filled event was to produce work that is bold and provocative, and in the process, presenting a differing dimension to South Indian dance."

It was a reiteration that if you can emotionally and metaphysically afford to take wings like a dove you can enjoy the thrill that awaits. But then you need to let yourself go. So, one would obviously ask: how really can one let oneself go on a warm Sunday afternoon when the ambience was friendly and the performers friendlier?

The answer: with an open mind and wild imagination and the notion that there's more to enjoying a dance or sequence than writing a review specially when performers are doing their best to experience and entertain. It is really amazing how much an open mind can accomplish. Initially I started writing notes: soon I realized it was not worth the effort: I got to write from my heart not to fill a column.

If you haven't seen Bharata Natyam (originated 400BCE - 200BCE in South India) earlier you may think this is weird, but then who defines weird? Titled "Box" dancers Nalin Bisnath and Julie Neuspiel faced off as hybrid entities with Julie decked in her traditional Bharata Natyam finery apropos a dancer and Nalin was in jeans. But, perhaps that's where Hari Krishnan's creative genius helped one understand the rhythmic syllable and the ambience of a nontraditional display. Hari did the voice and cymbals as a dance director would. Aaron Paige, a student of ethnomusicology at Wesleyan University and South Indian percussion played the mridangam (percussion instrument) with aplomb.

Bollywood hopscotch confused the audience at times: perhaps it was intentional. But then when free expression takes over one cannot ask a performer to control himself or herself. The viewer has to try to understand what Bollywood (read, Indian cinema) is all about. Being a whimsical take on today's retro-Bollywood, cinema verité entertainment and expression comprising vignettes from dancers Nalin Bisnath, Beth Despres, Hiroshi Miyamoto, Masumi Sato, Vinod Shankar and Emily Watts, the transition from "natyam" (choreographed dance) to Bollywood (fancy-free) was agreeable though questionable.

But in its New York Premiere "Owning Shadows" was a different cup of tea: it was an interpretation of the centuries-old Indian epic, the "Ramayana" where the exiled young prince, Rama spurns the advances of the ogress, Shurpanakha and instead is charmed by his demure wife and princess, Sita. Combining Balinese dance with a modern version of Bharata Natyam, Hiroshi Miyamoto and Emily Watts excelled effortlessly. A New York-based performer, Emily's versatility and credits that included ballet, vaudeville showed.

A rehearsal director for inDANCE since 2003 and performer with diverse styles, Hiroshi's act was a cinch.

Beth Despres, who has been trained in ballet and modern dance was fluid in "Inverse" as one would expect, and so were Hiroshi and Masumi Sato. Originally from Japan "accomplished performers" Hiroshi and Masumi brought new meaning to the art of stealth while being seemingly effortless in movement. Solo performer, Joshua Green, who is learning dance at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, was eclectic and drew laughter when doing "Mea Culpa" in an exploitative, exotic exercise. The costume was original to say the least and one's concentration tended to waiver.

Choreography by Krishnan was exemplary all through but Shane Mongar's lighting left some questions unanswered about what was intended and what had to be concealed. Rex's costumes were original and one was hard-pressed to be a voyeur at some of the creations.

Soft-spoken but intense on stage, Krishnan's passion for the dance form is naturally fluid and seamless. Hari dances, choreographs, teaches both traditional Bharata Natyam and its more contemporary forms. A visiting professor at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, Hari holds a Master's Degree in Dance from York University, Toronto and a Master's in Religion and Philosophy from the University of Manitoba, Canada.

Indian art prices soar in London

More private collectors of Indian origin are picking up art...

Within a week after Christie's exciting June art sale in London, auctioneer, Sotheby's followed up with their sale of Indian contemporary art that totaled 2.06 million GBP (3.38 million USD) on June 16 at Bond Street. Most of the top drawer items were sold at prices much higher than estimated - a positive indication that the art market is turning around slowly but surely.

Among the top ten were older artists such as enduring favourite, M.F. Husain (born 1915), Francis Newton Souza (1924-2002), Manjit Bawa (1941-2008), Krishen Khanna (b. 1925) and Bikash Bhattacharjee (1940-2006).

Day Dreaming - an ink-and-pastel (lacquered) composition created in 1979 by 70-year-old Jogen Chowdhury was the subject of a heated bidding battle between art collectors and eventually it was bought by an American collector for a record amount of 2.91 crores INR (3,73,250 GBP or 6,09,629 USD). This piece became more than a bone of contention since this rare art with exceptional provenance was being made available for sale for the first time ever. It was exhibited at the Sao Paulo Biennale in 1979.

Chowdhury's distinctive style of fluid lines and simple sensitive forms with awareness for pattern and texture (152 cms. x 182 cms.) perhaps helped it attain such a high price. With a weakness for obese figures in his drawings, Chowdhury tends to be traditional and on the money when his cross-hatching frames merge. Says Chowdhury, "I have always been fascinated by the conventional forms of a sari draping around a woman's body, and I have sought through that image, forms of my own making, in a new manner." A textile designer at the Weavers' Service Centre in Chennai during the late 1960s, Chowdhury moved to Delhi in 1972 as curator of paintings at the Rashtrapati Bhavan at the President's Estate.

Also scoring at three times the high estimate of 1,20,000 GBP was Orange Head, an oil-on-canvas by Souza (1963), that was bought for 403,250 GBP (658,628 USD). Just shows that in spite of a certain coolness in the art market over the past year deals continue to be made. Souza has not been without controversies but now that the artist has passed on, there is more value-added interest in his paintings.

Formerly an exclusive preserve of wealthy foreigners we now see more private collectors of Indian origin picking up contemporary art as witnessed by sale of artist Bawa's Untitled oil-on-canvas, for 85,250 GBP (139,239 USD) and Husain's oil-on-canvas - Woman in Red which sold at 82,850 GBP (135,319 (USD).

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(A New York based independent trend writer, Raj S. Rangarajan reports on the art market, reviews books and films for media based in New York, Toronto, Canada, Seoul and India.)

Seventy-seven Minutes of Comedy: Curtain Falls on Desipina

Community » Culture Features » 2009

Raj recaps Desipina & Company's Seven.11 Convenience Theatre

The curtain falls on fusion arts company, Desipina & Company's Seven.11 Convenience Theatre after seven fun-filled years. Ably run by sisters Rehana Mirza, Artistic Director and Rohi Mirza Pandya, Producing Director, Desipina's mini-productions were a labor of love that cast seven talented actors and seven playwrights this year and ensured an audience that celebrated South Asian and Asian Pacific genres. Says, Rohi, "It's been an incredible journey but we are ready to close up shop for good since we're shifting priorities."

Adds Rohi, "In part, our artistic aspirations have moved beyond what can be done in 11 minutes, with all of our artists, including ourselves, running the store with little to no funding. We want to be able to end on a high note with Seven.11, while also turning an eye towards a future where South Asian and Asian American theater is valued to the point where it has as many donors as other mainstream non-profit theaters."

Last week's inaugural show of seven sketches (each lasting 11 minutes) set in the American 7-11 convenience store at Centerstage in Manhattan were hilarious, and excelling were Kavi Ladnier (versatile bundle of fun, the woman cannot stand still -- Color Me Desi), Andrew Guilarte (his professionalism and experience showed), Cindy Cheung (wild and restrained in turns in What's in Store, written by Rehana), Tim Cain (the big-made clerk, who appeared dangerous, yet sensitive, when provoked in One Dollar Box), Jay J. Lee (as Old Su in Closing Up Shop), Sam Ghosh (who continued to surprise in Soonderella), and Christopher Larkin (as convincing nerd in Closing Up Shop).

Admirable writing was the hallmark of the skits and scribes have used positive and unusual stereotypes that New York city offers, to maximum advantage. While occasionally the rhymes and music didn't resonate perhaps because of inadequate acoustics controls the ultimate effect didn't suffer too much.

Character names such as Chandrakant Scroogewala, Soonderella (desi "Cinderella"), Foffatlal were obvious giveaways and it is creditable that Desipina executed these witty plays with professional aplomb. Kavi was a riot in Soonderella with Cindy (Helen Anti), an able foil and Foffatlal (Sam Ghosh). Addressing Prince Charming Singh (Andrew Guilarte) as "You are my Taj Mahal" Cindy's spoof line had a charming touch. It was obvious, most of the actors loved the challenge of playing outside of their own skins.

To a question by the writer about how difficult or easy it was for her to manage a diverse group of actors with multi-racial identities and fusion lifestyles in the plays, Rohi said, "Everyone brings to the table drastically different perspectives, which only helps to create a livelier discussion, which shows on the stage. One of the main reasons why we created Seven.11 was to show the broad spectrum of the Asian American experience, and to show that there is not just one story that encompasses it all. The fact that everyone is so unique and has such different backgrounds precisely proves our point. We love to mix the pot up and show that there's no need to be afraid to stick everyone on one stage together." The diversity of the ensemble, and of the playwrights actually helped. Samrat Chakrabarti and Sanjiv Jhaveri had their writing and music cut out for them in A Very Desi Christmas with Andrew, the ideal scrooge. Sanjiv served as dialect coach, Rishi Chowdhary phonetically wrote out some of his Guyanese dialogue for Kavi in Color Me Desi.

The seven actors of the multi-cultural chorus that belted out the final "Om jagadeesha harey" would have brought tears of joy to the NOA (Network of Anti-gees), a clever take on well-meaning real life "aunties" from back home and from Edison, New Jersey. Only the obligatory flame and incense stick were missing.

About future plans for Seven.11, Rohi confided, "We would love to share a theater space with other innovative Off-off Broadway companies such as Youngblood or Vampire Cowboys, so that we can focus more on the art that we want to create rather than the woes of producing on a shoestring budget in somebody else's space."

Raj S. Rangarajan is a New York-based trend writer, reports on the art market and has contributed to publications in the U.S., Canada, Republic of Korea and India. Email: raj.rangarajan@gmail.com.

Last Supper & Bollywood Depiction in London

The art scene shifted to London where South Asian modern and contemporary art works of Indian and Pakistani artists were auctioned. Apart from known names such as Husain, Tyeb Mehta, Ram Kumar, Raza and Souza, creations by younger artists such as Rashid Rana, Atul Bhalla, Vivek Vilasini and Navin Rawnchaikul sought art collectors and buyers.

With art buying in a holding pattern these days, this writer asked Yamini Mehta, Director, Modern and Contemporary Indian Art at Christie's, London, whether collectors, galleries and dealers were hesitating to purchase major art items. Assured Mehta, "works of significance, quality and rarity find their way to collectors with little hesitation. As we are in a buyer's market there are many more opportunities to acquire - which has actually brought back many long-standing collectors into the market." While Indian artists have crossed the US$1.5 million-dollar sale threshold a few times Mehta sounded optimistic in "regard to marquee works entering the market and the day is not far away from a US$5 or 10 million milestone for a work of Indian art."

Navin Rawanchaikul (born, 1971) of Thai origin has ancestral roots in Hindu-Punjabi communities of what is now Pakistan. Navin's Lost Kingdom of Navin, (2008) is a tribute to his interest in Bollywood and to fellow artists such as Ravinder Reddy, Nataraj Sharma, Subodh Gupta, Chintan Upadhyay seen as a frivolous take in a constellation of film stars and look-a-likes. Navin's work is site-specific and his innovative style integrates his individual experiences into eccentric fictional tales. His works include installations, films, comic books, games, mobile galleries and painted cars.

Many households have on display the well-known "Last Supper" painting in their family rooms or meditation area. But, artistically speaking, here is a twist. Kerala artist, Vivek Vilasini's archival canvas Last Supper - Gaza, (2008) is an unusual reenactment of 15th century artist, Leonardo da Vinci's composition of the apostles in threes (surrounding the central figure of Christ). Vivek's figures have young women clothed in chadors or burqas revealing only their sensitive eyes filled with suspense and anxiety. A multimedia artist and photographer, Vivek (born, 1964) trained as a Marine Radio Officer in Kochi before turning to art and sculpture.

(A New York based independent trend writer, Raj S. Rangarajan reports on the art market, reviews books and films for media based in New York, Toronto, Canada, Seoul and India.)

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RAJ S RANGARAJAN

 

Void - Anish Kapoor's Installations

Maverick. Unorthodox. Nonconformist. Artistic genius.

Call him what you wish, but Anish Kapoor stands alone in the art world. Identified variously as an artist, sculptor, space thinker, Anish has evolved as a master of three-dimensional space. His imagination boggles one's notional milieu in that his conceptual sense of scale and colour gives new meaning to the phrase: thinking outside the box.

Sandhini Poddar, art historian and the first Assistant Curator of Asian Art at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York describes Kapoor as a post minimalist, known for his seminal contributions that are contemporary and site-specific. Till recently on display in Berlin, Kapoor's Memory will be re-created in New York for the Fall season to commemorate Guggenheim's 50th anniversary. The minimalist era was when art and music were stripped down to their fundamental premise between 50's and 70'with post minimalist starting around the 80's.

Imagine 24 tons of Cor-Ten steel sculpted into154 seamless tiles with 10 bolts resembling a percussion instrument such as a mridangam or a tabla. Part of his signature Void series, Kapoor's Memory makes one wonder how the monumental installation was conceived and created. Clarifies Poddar, "A giant jigsaw that compels the viewer to physically move from one section of the museum wall to another in order to comprehend the art," this masterpiece makes one think. One is not a mere spectator -- one becomes a participant -- in an interesting and even intriguing search for where uncertainty begins and where the curvaceous seduction ends.

On permanent display at Millennium Park in Chicago since July 2004, Kapoor's stainless steel Cloud Gate that weighs over 110 tons, consists of 168 stainless steel plates (66 ft. long; 33 ft. high) is another example of the artist's visual prowess.

Mumbai-born, Kapoor, 55 attended Doon School in Dehradun, later moved to Britain to study art at Hornsey College of Art and Chelsea School of Art Design. In 1991 he won the Turner Prize for contemporary art and in 2003, the British government awarded him a CBE (Commander) for his giant Marsyas (satyr in Greek mythology) that was displayed at Tate Modern Gallery in 2002. This huge 3-steel ring structure held by a PVC membrane made one think about space in a different light.

(A New York based independent trend writer, Raj S. Rangarajan reports on the art market, reviews books and films for media based in New York, Toronto, Canada, Seoul and India.)
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RAJ S. RANGARAJAN

Younger Indian artists come into their own

While art writers tend to concentrate on the Husains, Gaitondes and Souzas of the contemporary art world, known for their originality and longevity, it’s time perhaps that we also talk of the younger breed of artist such as a Shaw or a Harsha…

These are Indian artists knocking on the doors of high value, and from an investing standpoint, these are “sure bets” for art galleries and collectors. Kolkata-born Raqib Shaw, 35, who grew up in Kashmir from the time he was six months old, but now settled in London, set the art world aglow in 2007 with his The Garden of Earthly Delights III painting that sold for US$5.49 million. This Raqib montage was a risque tapestry of splendid colour with humans, animals, birds and other creatures in plainly suggestive racy activity.

Raqib is outrageous in his underwater creatures as well that is seen in The Garden of Earthly Delights, X, with nipples and genetalia, and the artist makes no apologies for his art. Heir to a carpet fortune that also deals in jewellery and shawls, Raqib, who studied art at Central Saint Martins at University of Arts, London, gave up his shares in his family’s company and preferred to become an artist – a vocation he clearly revels in and loves.

Artist N.S. Harsha, 40, lives in Mysore and is involved in large scale installations and community projects. His Cosmic Orphans, completed in December 2005 for the Singapore Biennale was a painting-cum-installation at the Sri Krishnan Temple in Singapore dedicated to the ninth incarnation of Vishnu. Here. the artist created sleeping figures in the inner sanctum, on the terrace, and on the temple tower (gopuram). For the terrace exposed to the elements he used flat colours.

Harsha won the £40,000 Artes Mundi Prize in April 2008, UK’s highest award at the National Museum in Cardiff, Wales. Artes Mundi, an international contemporary arts initiative, encourages artists to participate on the world’s art stage. Known for his storytelling abilities, Harsha’s keen sense of detail on everyday Indian life, juxtaposed with contemporary world events and images has been a major plus. His winning painting Mass Marriage was a subtle, amusing narrative on Indian marriages, but also reflected in a realistic manner the complex nature of human relationships all over the world.

(A New York based independent trend writer, Raj S. Rangarajan reports on the art market, reviews books and films for media based in New York, Toronto, Canada, Seoul and India.)

talktoretailplus@yahoo.com

RAJ S. RANGARAJAN