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| ABOUT TRaC |
Dance TRaC Fall 2003
Kaash: Provoking Reflection With the house lights still on, a lone man emerged onto the stage at the Joyce Theater while the audience remained fully engaged in conversation and paid little mind to him. He stood there, motionless, long after the powerfully precise and sharp movements were executed by the other four dancers. Once underway, the rapt attention of the audience never waned for the enduring 55 minutes of distinguished Akram Khan's Kaash. One of Khan's inspirations for this new piece was Shiva, the Hundu god of destruction and creation. This undoubtedly correlated with the title given to this production, meaning "if." During the entirety of this piece, segments of repetition develop and persist. It is about how the dancers, as well as people in general, discover how to make use of empty space. It flourishes with spirituality and themes that provoke contemplation. The cast of five dancers displayed precise movements that were disciplined and restricted, as well as unconfined in their exertion of energy and strength. Despite the rapid and staccato quality of their placements, the motions of the performers remained polished and graceful. The dancing had a war-like and attacking persona that implied the idea of combat, which was portrayed when each of the dancers appeared to be engaged in battle against him or herself. As well as performing, the dancers educated the audience through their didactically spoken reiterations. Oratory sporadically replaced dance, commanding the viewers to pay attention to their message. To choreograph this piece Akram used his extensive knowledge of Kathak, a classical form of North Indian dancing, blended with contemporary dance. In this, he's developed his own unique form of movement. Throughout the night it is continually depicted with slicing arms, machine-like exactitude, determined motions, and precise and controlled placements. Kathak, meaning "to tell a story," is an exploration of rhythm and movement, customarily with percussion music. In Kaash the musical score, composed by Nitin Sawheny, engulfs the audience from the start with its suspenseful drums and booming energy. A major expression of the theme of Akram's work was the set, a simple black rectangle. As Akram asks in the playbill, "Is it not true that the empty space inside the cup is what renders it useful?" The single backdrop, designed by sculptor Anish Kapoor, depicted and stimulated thoughts of these wisely spoken words. The depth and profundity of the blackness greatly resembled a bottomless abyss of space and time, utilized by the dancers, thoughts, sound, light, and many other elements. Aideen Malone's extensive use of lighting varied from dim colors such as muted blues to vibrant ones such as the blood red used as the music became more powerful. The black tunics and pants worn by the cast directed the eye to concentrate exclusively on the movements and the dancers themselves. Their asymmetrical angles and willingness to move in sync with the body permitted the intense motions of the torsos, arms and legs. The correlation between all the fundamental elements of the piece created a dramatic and vivid performance. Towards the conclusion of the piece, the dancers return to the monotonous patterns carried out at the commencement of the evening, but it wasn't the same arrangement. They were developed and transformed like Shiva's recreations. At the completion of Kaash, Ing Pang Ooi remains solitary onstage, like he did an hour prior, rendering thoughts of a new beginning in the end.
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