Ratnam’s reputation precedes her and the beautiful Chinmaya Auditorium was filled to capacity with dance enthusiasts. And they were not disappointed. The intense imagery wrapped itself around the audience encasing them in their journey through the sometimes frenzied and expansive motions. In the ensuing silence broken by unfamiliar sounds, one could discern a storyline, however thin, mirroring a similar journey in the protagonist’s life. Though the presentation was primarily on a physical level, the dancers however unwittingly, communicated the reflective mood of the production. The tantric Buddhist ritual of Chod, the inspiration for the movements involves visualisation of cutting and offering the body in a state of trance and usually performed at night in a cemetery. Enough gruesome detail to work on! Naturally the flailing arm movements and the dazed look on the dancers’ faces were telling descriptions.

Dressed in a poor Tibetian’s garb, the dancers performed movements that seemed mostly contemporary and American post modern, but every now and again broke into an interlude of Bharatanatyam ‘adavus,’ so regularly that it felt like a refrain. The two American dancers Andre Koslowski and Gwen Hunter Ritchie did a wonderful job coping with the fast-paced steps. The Indian dancers Anusha Subramanyam and L. Narendra Kumar likewise took to the western movement grammar earnestly. The wide stances, the expansive movements of the limbs added a lot of effervescence to the production, and the combined energies on stage remained on a high.

On the face of it, the work has no entertainment value per se. There is almost no melody in the music, save for the intermittent Hindusthani alaap that sounded like a cry for help, not even a rhythm to follow. For the most part it was computer-generated sounds composed by New Yorker Alice Shields, with a generous use of the Tibetian horn. The dance felt repetitive after a point, and there was no forward progression in the tableau except for the laboured journey of the protagonist from the side of the stage ‘Japanese Butoh’ dance-style. Yet at the macro level, the production had an inherent appeal. Whether it was the anticipation of the end of the journey, the very ‘chod-ish’ actions of the dancers, or the fascinating trances that could lead to somewhere mystical…, the choreographers can take full credit for their skilful integration of ideas. The work was seamless with the diverse styles of dance coming together effortlessly. Ratnam’s first work as choreographer will be a turning point in more ways than one. The costumes were by Myra Bullington, and Mithran Devaneshan handled the excellent lighting.