When dance captures the stillness in movements

January Low presents ‘Pending’ at Medai in Bengaluru
| Photo Credit: Mithun Pai

January Low’s efficiency started in stillness. The absence of music was as placing as the lack of elaborate make-up or ornamentation. Movements being listed in the audio observe had been being matched with dance poses however the efficiency established from the starting a view of the dancer’s observe room. The viewers was invited to witness the dancer committing sequences to reminiscence, listening to directions, making notes and discovering the dance inside. 

One of two performances showcased in The Platform 2025 (offered by Alif Arts Consultancy at Medai, Bengaluru), January Low’s ‘Pending’ displayed the many little dances that make a dance. It opened repetitions, vulnerability and the seek for perfection to the gaze of the viewers, accustomed to guzzling the “end product” of demanding preparatory processes. In the ultimate enjoying out of the dance, with music and different paraphernalia, the viewers skilled each journey and vacation spot in January’s efficiency.

Sooraj Subramaniam’s ‘Reflections of an Indian dancer’
| Photo Credit:
Mithun Pai

Sooraj Subramaniam’s ‘Reflections of an Indian dancer,’ the different efficiency of The Platform 2025, was rooted in comparable themes however used its personal stylistic vocabulary to discover the interiority of a dancer’s relationship to a few dance genres. The viewers travelled with him as he positioned Bharatanatyam, Kathak and Odissi in their histories (with out sidestepping complexities), on the Indian map and in the panorama of his physique (as additionally his private historical past). Unfolding towards a sparklingly written and narrated prose-poem, Sooraj’s efficiency positioned back-stories in the entrance. It mirrored on loss; on being “messed with” when dwelling turned a distant, unknown entity. It described the “finding of a new locus” that his dance training and observe had enabled.

While an earlier model of January’s ‘Pending’ premiered in 2023 as ‘A Listening Body,’ Sooraj first carried out ‘Reflections of an Indian Dancer’ in 2021, later touring the UK and Europe with it. ‘A Listening Body’ was a response to the modifications in her “relationship with dance after the pandemic,” however ‘Pending’ supplied “more nuanced content” as a result of it was based mostly on classes distilled by way of the earlier work, January shares. Having been in search of “different entry points for the audience to encounter and experience Odissi,” January says, “my practice observes how Odissi continues to thrive in my South East Malaysian body as a mother to three children. My virtual mentorship with didi (Bijayini Satpathy) developed an agency in my body and practice that I have never experienced before. This inspired me to create this work.”

‘Pending’ premiered in 2023 as ‘A Listening Body,
| Photo Credit:
Mithun Pai

She was “curious to share the unseen labour (emotional and physical) that goes into practice, and the unwavering faith dancers carry with them when they show up, though performance opportunities are few and far between,” she provides. “The biggest challenge as a mother has been to remain consistent, to be kind to myself especially during the pauses (as a mother, there are many) and to stay present,” says January. Her focus, due to this fact, is on “the sacred stillness” that observe brings to her. 

‘Reflections of an Indian Dancer’, directed by Balbir Singh (of Balbir Singh Dance Company, UK) sought to “make Indian dance accessible without oversimplifying its complexity,” says Sooraj. “The main challenge was maintaining the tone and pace of the prose-poetry script while balancing the genealogies of the dance styles against an autobiographical backdrop.” He seems for “synergy rather than conflict between idioms,” he says, likening his immersive engagement with three varieties to “being multilingual”. Lately, his observe has been centred on Odissi, “especially as I train with Bijayini Satpathy, and am relishing the fresh challenges and possibilities it offers,” he says.

Both ‘Pending’ and ‘Reflections of an Indian Dancer’ narrated dance tales in a fastidiously crafted inside out language. Mapping thoughts and physique on stage, they felt inclusive of the viewers in ways in which standard dance performances are sometimes not. Effectively utilizing pause and silence, they made thought seen, evocatively opening up subtext to viewers expertise.