SECOND DAY AT IGNITE – HO-HUM AND PADMINI CHETTUR: 11 November 2010

Padmini Chettur's Pushed

Hmm! An uninspiring day at best and a ‘what-were-the-organisers-thinking!’ day at worst. But rounded off by an extraordinarily powerful performance by the Padmini Chettur Dance Company from Chennai – I forgave everything after that experience!

Began the morning by sitting in on a ridiculously short masterclass by Shobana Jeyasingh and her company – a mere 90 minutes while ideally it should have been at least double that. Not surprising then that the session was a bit tepid and structured more as a ‘have a taste’ kind of teaching workshop than a masterclass.. Didn’t really get to enter or engage with any questions of creative process or impulse that the company work with. In fact, an observer observed (!) to me that, considering this was her first visit to India, she would have expected the session – short as it was – to be structured keeping in mind the culturally different but also deeply connected histories.

We did try to address some of these in the conversation with Shobana later at Max Mueller Bhavan. The conversation was moderated by Jyoti Argade (scholar, lecturer, and producer from London) and myself. But this too was painfully short – 45 minutes, though we dragged it to about an hour. That was just enough to touch on some of the issues surrounding Shobana’s work process, impulses, and contribution to dance in the UK but not enough to probe or provoke a deeper, more thoughtful and enlightening discussion. I spoke to some people after the conversation, and there were several unresolved issues on the one hand and also unsettling questions for the choreographer on the other. Several people echoed my own hesitancies about the company – wowed as I was by the sheer physicality and technique of their work – and such conversations should provide space to respectfully bring up some of these. It’s not just an opportunity to hear the choreographer out and applaud, but also to give her honest and constructive audience feedback – something I gained tremendously from at the ‘Meet the Director’ session at the NSD festival in January this year. Something for Gati to keep in mind for next time.

The screening session later in the afternoon showcased some little seen work – but also some downright self-indulgent stuff – in my book, at least. Thankfully, these ones were short! An unexpected treat arrived in the form of two cheeky and dour films by Britain based dancer-performer Hitain Patel.

The 4.30pm session at the LTG auditorium – smelling awfully of kerosene for some odd reason – featured the first set of Emerging Choreographers. Here Gati is to be questioned. Out of the three choreographer’s presented – Lokesh Bharadwaj, Veena Basavarajaiah and Post Natyam Collective – the first two presented self-performed solos created at the Gati Summer Dance Residency earlier this year. Participating in the Gati Residency should not be a recommendation to get into a Gati-organised festival of this nature and stature (at least stature that it should aspire to) – especially when the two pieces were pedestrian at best. Apart from the installation of bulbs in the first piece and the intelligent light design in the second, I don’t think I came away with anything. In fact, Cynthia Ling Lee’s (of Post Natyam Collective) delightfully mischievous and sprightly solo – Rude, huh? – was the one bright and enjoyable spot in otherwise dull (and even self-indulgent) fare. If these are among the best Emerging Choreographers India has to offer, that’s very sad indeed!

Another surprising disappointment was Navtej Singh Johar’s solo, Grey is Also a Colour. I usually love Navtej’s work. As a dancer he is magnificent, and his understanding of the abhinaya of Bharatnatyam inspires and urges him to create wonderfully evocative and emotional work. Combining yoga, Bharatnatyam and touches of contemporary dance, his productions – for me – have been truly path breaking AND soul-stirring. But today Navtej presented a more dance and theatre piece, where he was speaking on stage, which just did not work for either for me or for others in the audience who share my passion for his dance work. In fact, the most potent sections for me were those when he sat quietly totally inhabiting a subtle movement or expression.

And now let me be clichéd and quote Shakespeare – “All’s Well That Ends Well” – to describe an anything but clichéd, mind-blowing and powerful performance by the Padmini Chettur Dance Company – Pushed. As I entered the hall, someone behind me said, ‘her work is slow, wonderfully slow’. I didn’t know whether he was being sarcastic or actually complimentary. I admit, I walked in with trepidation having heard so many good and bad responses to Padmini’s work. I’ve only seen some bits she has shown on DVD, and enjoyed working with her in a short workshop situation in Calcutta last year. But I could see even from these short interactions that it was not my kind of work at all – and it still isn’t. And yet what depth of beauty it had! Yes, it was slow, but it pulled me in. It drew me with a force that I cannot articulate into a measured, meditative, moody world of gradually forming and dissolving images. Her choreography has a precision that the Swiss would be envious of – and I’m not talking just timing here, which is difficult enough considering the music had no recognisable markers of rhythm or time. Precision; brave, astonishing and deceptive simplicity; gentle fluidity; forceful power; and immense focus and poise. All contributing to a strange rollercoaster ride – one that was slow often to the point of being stationery, and yet ruthlessly and poetically dynamic. Every movement, every choreographic decision was so deliberate and detailed down to the swish of the feet on the floor and the intricate, yet almost invisible changes in timing – it was masterful! I felt as if I was at a Noh performance: where the slowness and control of each little gesture, each created sound weaves its own web of attraction for the audience. But it is a performance that demands as much of the audience as it does of the performers: intense concentration, the end result being that you emerge from the experience both exhausted and exhilarated.

I happily forgive everything else today and thank Gati wholeheartedly for gifting me an experience so precious, so pure, so pleasurable.