Photo: Uma DhanwateyIn vibrantly coloured traditional costumes of deep crimsons, ochres and greens, The Nrityagram Dance Ensemble transports you to the ornately carved surroundings of a traditional Indian temple - and make it spring to life.
With a title derived from the sanskrit word Sri meaning ‘the divine female principle' Sriyah is a selected programme of works created by the company over the past decade. Read more …
Aakriti is an abstract dance, accompanied by a singer repeating a simple refrain, starting slowly and building to a crescendo of intricate patterns created by dancers with bells on their feet. The lyricism and curved body lines of Indian temple sculptures are evoked in the fluid,sensuous movements. The intimate, understated beauty of Srimayi is inspired by a 12th-century romantic poem.
Vibhakta, named by The New Yorker as Best Dance of the Year at its premiere in 2008, brings the programme to a life-affirming climax. The piece is both love song and celebration of the ‘duality' of the human spirit as one voice and one dancer become joyously, endlessly entwined.
There is something dizzying about the way their bodies communicate across a spectrum of effects, from rock-solid, bell-ankled stamps to the most evanescent incense-like curl of a finger. Even on a damp night on a musty stage in a theatre in Edinburgh, it was like waking up in a lost temple where the statues had come to life.
King's Theatre, Edinburgh from Friday August 26, 2011, until Monday August 29, 2011. More info: http://www.edtheatres.com/kings
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