Odissi, the dance tradition, has come a long way from the temples of Orissa into the prosceniums all over the globe. This journey is dotted with many ideological, structural and stylistic transitions, made possible by dancers who took the form into diverse contexts. “Odissi on High” is a production that has emerged from the context of a relationship between two Asian countries of India and Malaysia. Conceived by the Malaysian Odissi dancer Ramli Ibrahim, it was co-created with Bichitrananda Swain, Odissi dancer and director of Rudrakshya Foundation. The production was presented to the Bangalore audience on last Friday, as a part of Bhaava, a festival of the arts organized by Anandi Arts Foundation.
Until recently, Odissi performances have occupied the proscenium, predominantly as a solo performance. In the last decade, there has been a growing trend to create group productions, but few that engage with the traditional repertoire. An experiment with tradition is often met with skepticism. “Odissi on High” is a performance which attempts to reinvent the traditional Pallavis, choreographed by the first generation maestros of the classical form. Pallavi is a central, non-narrative, pure dance item of the Odissi repertoire. The movements of a Pallavi are often compared to the blossoming of a flower because of its physical structure and rhythmic pattern. The choreography experiments with both pace and structure of a pallavi, as one sees dancers gushing in and out of stage, making stunning formations with their well-trained bodies. This tech-heavy production, together with very skilled dancers and thrilling choreography presents Pallavi to the audience as a visual extravaganza.
While most parts of the performance were very visually engaging, the “Taala Taranga” stood out for its contrast from the rest of the pieces. Mostly composed on the sounds of the Mardala and the bols, the simplicity of the sound, the clarity of beats, creatively imagined subtle movements came as a relief from the large visual scale of the rest of the production.
While the physical rigour of the performance and spirit of playing with the aesthetic of tradition is laudable, Odissi on High falls short in challenging the contemporary conventions in classical dance. It changes the appeal of the traditional Pallavi and makes it palatable for the cosmopolitan audience to consume it, and upon some reflection one might want to ask, does that make it truly experimental? When we change choreographies and make a technologically demanding production, does that constitute an artistic experiment? Is it enough for classical dance to display skilled bodies and generate thrilling visuals? Why are performing arts, primarily an embodied practice, increasingly invested in making it visually appealing? Why is finding a contemporary relevance to classical form increasingly beginning to mean technologizing it?
Art is meant to represent reality and give us a different perspective on it. Odissi on High, gives us a different experience of a traditional Pallavi by reinterpreting them as group choreographies and one cannot deny that it evokes a sense of wonder in watching. But since the spirit of experimentation starts and ends on a projective note, it remains in the body of audience as visual experience.
