Performance Report: Sacred Moves: November 26^th 2004

CONTEXT

I write this report with background knowledge of this project throughout its’ stages of development which gives me a useful context. It was not the first time I had seen the performance.

CONTENT

Picture if you will, a crypt of a large Roman Catholic cathedral, high vaulted ceilings, dimly lit, under the main body of the cathedral-not your average performance venue. Much to my amazement the audience navigated their collective ways through the car park and around the labyrinthine steps to the crypt.

My first enduring image was that of the front row opposite me, which was full of young Muslim women and the juxtaposition of the setting for an audience which embraced cultural diversity in a way to gladden the hearts of all the funding bodies!! Audience members crossed all age ranges and represented the Black, South Asian and European communities.

This was the culmination of Liverpool’s Year of Faith. Culture Company had asked Chaturangan to close the year(at very short notice) with Sacred Move, a piece created on that theme and performed previously in August at the Anglican cathedral and subsequently at the Contact Theatre in September.

Bisakha Sarker -Artistic Director along with Kali Dass –main choreographer, Sri Sarker –choreographer and the performers pulled out all the stops on this one.

It is a nightmarish task for a project- based company where all performers work on a freelance basis or have other jobs, to do something at short notice and with a very small budget. It is testimony to their skill, energy and dedication that they pulled it together so fast. Additionally one of the original dancers was injured so a substitute had to be found to learn some of the repertoire from scratch whilst the choreographers danced additional sections and re-worked all the sections to sit in a very different split level stage. It was very clear to me that the piece was designed to sit in a Sacred Space and had not transferred well to the black box space at the Contact. It was great to have the opportunity to see it again in an appropriate space.

I set a lot of store by the opinions of the friends and colleagues I take with me to these events. They were awestruck, loved it and found it inspirational. We were a multi-cultural, multi-faith entourage – British, Dutch, South Asian and Antipodean, Catholic, Hindu, Buddhist, Pagan and Agnostic!

The dance, music and rap poetry were neatly meshed together in an energetic, focused, joyous manner. The chemistry between the three male and three female dancers was magnetic. The flow between Bharata Natyam and the contemporary techniques was seamless. As I had watched the dancers struggle to assimilate the techniques in the creating/devising phase it seemed to me that the space between the performances had allowed their bodies to assimilate the styles more fully so that they were within them rather than sitting on them. Footwork was clean and percussive and connected easily with the athleticism of turns, leaps and jumps- each move was truly sacred.

The sections had an individuality to them which connected to make a whole work and the dynamics and pacing were faultless. It was great to see Kali really enjoying dancing and taking up the stage and filling the space of the missing Darren. Stuart the replacement dancer added an astonishing verve and I think his presence changed the energy of the whole piece. Sri took over the solo which was softer and more fluid and seemed like a completely different section. This worked better for me than the angular angst I had seen it danced with before. Arun as musician and Levi as poet were consistent and eminently watchable performers weaving sound –both voice and instrumental into and out of the fabric of the performance.

This work clearly has the potential to have an extended shelf life and has benefited from the change of performers and situation. I believe that the appropriate venues are key to the sense of the “divine” within the piece. It is a work that will change and grow. Some sections have a greater capacity to stand alone whereas others really need the context of the whole.

I was minded that the work had changed almost along the lines of the sections – shifting – anchored- contrasts – reaching and I am very sure it is the destiny of  the work to ENDURE !!!!!!!!!

Jude Bird

December 2004