Visiting Scottish Dance Theatre, Dundee - 15 August 2011

Driving to Dundee

Janet Smith and Amanda Chin of Scottish Dance Theatre had visited Ranan in October 2010 during their reconnoitre of India along with Nelson Fernandez. Janet – Artistic Director of SDT – had been the guest at one of Ranan’s adda sessions – a report and response by Lav Kanoi (Ranan repertory member) can be read here.

SDT were to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe the week after we left, so we drove up to Dundee where they are based to meet them in rehearsal. SDT is housed in the Dundee Repertory Theatre which is also home to an acting repertory of the same name as the theatre. Dundee is a small town which – like so many other small towns in the UK and across the world – prospered with local trade and as a port, and then declined with the advent of newer technologies. And like many other small towns in the UK, Dundee is trying to rejuvenate and regenerate itself at present. And input and support for the arts has formed a major part of how this is conceived. There are problems there as well – specially now with the economic downturn and huge and often illogical cuts in arts funding – but that’s another story.

Set building area at Dundee Rep

The Dundee Repertory Theatre building is a self-contained space with its own well-equipped performance space, rehearsal studios, costume, set and technical departments and a strong Education department as well. The theatre receives public money of course, but what caught my eye as soon as we entered the foyer was a large plaque thanking both public, individual and private donors for their continued support.

 SDT’s studio was on the top floor. Again, it is so difficult for us to imagine rehearsal spaces like that. A sprung wooden floor, very high ceiling, built in sound system, a rest area – not to mention dedicated dressing rooms and lounge outside of the space and an office space on a different floor. They had marked out the area of the venue they would be performing in in Edinburgh, and it was about a third of the floor space they actually had. They were having to re-imagine the ensemble pieces for this smaller space, while we – even at Ranan, lucky as we are to have our own space – are constantly creating work in a space smaller than we will perform in.

Speaking of space, one of the things that struck me was how detailed and measured their movements and positions were vis-à-vis one another. How far dancers were from one another, whether one could be seen from the corner of the eye of another… all contributed to making a piece. Yes, they have a large space and can afford to measure and work at that level of precision, but what struck me the most was the generosity of the ensemble among themselves, the eagerness to re-orient oneself to help a co-dancer. For Indian classical dancers trained in a solo tradition, there is a strong lesson here as we move more and more (for better or for worse) into the realm of choreography for a group of dancers.

SDT and Dundee Rep: the people

SDT is a surprising international company. Among the 7-8 dancers we met, there were people from Britain, France Belgium, Spain and other places as well. And each of them wonderfully trained before joining SDT. We watched them rehearse sections of an ensemble piece and then a male and female version of an enchanting duet (the same choreography, but vastly different just because the gender changed). Personally, I feel that contemporary dance sometimes tends to become too abstruse and self-involved in its expression. But here was contemporary dance that had not only excellent technique, but communicated with me instantly, joyously, beautifully. It touched and moved us, and this was just an often interrupted rehearsal. It was really unfortunate that we couldn’t watch them in performance.

There is a possibility of SDT touring India with performances sometime in 2012, though the present recession climate has cast a cloud over so many plans and possibilities. But if they do, I would exhort everyone to go watch and interact with this wonderful company.

[all photographs are By Amlan Chaudhuri]