Dance as homage to the human body
Mavin Khoo, Manoel Theatre
One image is sure to pervade all memories of Maltese theatre and dance goers: A small man, withdrawn, yet emanating a powerful energy as he dances minimalistically through the lit water that streams over him. None of those who witnessed that energising moment dared miss last week's dance performance at the Manoel Theatre as Mavin Khoo returned to its stage in a collaboration between the Manoel Theatre Management Committee and the British Council, Malta.
His performance differed enormously from 2004's Chandra/Luna, where the performers had created a dance piece that incorporated different dance genres, recognising the multicultural value to the title and thus symbolically uniting different cultural forms in unified homage to the moon. This performance Solo: Bharata Natyam, also as the title suggests, worked as a purer rendition of the southern Indian dance form bharata natyam, which is traditionally a solo dance performance. Dancing solo, Mavin Khoo was nevertheless accompanied on stage by other performers, the accompanying musicians who sat at the front corner, as is also traditional of the form. Sharing the space thus enhanced the intimate atmosphere. Musicians included renowned vocalist Pushkala Gopal, Seeta Patel, RR Prasad and Karthik Raghunathan.
Despite the distinct differences between the performances, Mavin Khoo's performative energy was as sublime as in Chandra/Luna. His technique was strong and controlled as was immediately evident through the initial moments where his breathing could be marked and his movements so clearly discerned to be engaging his full corporality; and only because of this could he be subdued to the flow and spirit of the dance which was both meditative and celebratory.
Above all, this same physical control pervaded his eyes through which he drew us in and controlled our gaze. His eyes showed us the trajectory of the cupid's arrow he mimed at shooting; they showed us the experience of waiting for it to hit the aspired love. Thus it became poetry in motion. And in this respect, having the story line explained to us, having the dance translated into words for us, a foreign audience, only detracted from the quality of the poetry.
The performance marked a journey of love, an attempt at giving form to different experiences of love: Spiritual love, love for earth, and jealous love.
The final dance was, again as is the tradition with bharata natyam, an exploration and exhilaration of dance itself. It served as a reminder that this was first and foremost a physical art that we were watching with a heritage that wished to explode beyond the narrative it was serving. It allowed for further rhythmic explorations than the previous numbers, and included accentuated play between Mavin Khoo and his musicians, moments of echoed responses with percussionist RR Prasad. Although the latter's presence could at no time be ignored; his hands were a dance in themselves.
This was however not a lighthearted evening, and took for much concentration. The repetitious structure of the dance is tiring if one does not look for the detail. But Mavin Khoo's agility transposed this, even in the mostly grounded work. This was a performance that served as homage to the corporality of the dancer.
His performance differed enormously from 2004's Chandra/Luna, where the performers had created a dance piece that incorporated different dance genres, recognising the multicultural value to the title and thus symbolically uniting different cultural forms in unified homage to the moon. This performance Solo: Bharata Natyam, also as the title suggests, worked as a purer rendition of the southern Indian dance form bharata natyam, which is traditionally a solo dance performance. Dancing solo, Mavin Khoo was nevertheless accompanied on stage by other performers, the accompanying musicians who sat at the front corner, as is also traditional of the form. Sharing the space thus enhanced the intimate atmosphere. Musicians included renowned vocalist Pushkala Gopal, Seeta Patel, RR Prasad and Karthik Raghunathan.
Despite the distinct differences between the performances, Mavin Khoo's performative energy was as sublime as in Chandra/Luna. His technique was strong and controlled as was immediately evident through the initial moments where his breathing could be marked and his movements so clearly discerned to be engaging his full corporality; and only because of this could he be subdued to the flow and spirit of the dance which was both meditative and celebratory.
Above all, this same physical control pervaded his eyes through which he drew us in and controlled our gaze. His eyes showed us the trajectory of the cupid's arrow he mimed at shooting; they showed us the experience of waiting for it to hit the aspired love. Thus it became poetry in motion. And in this respect, having the story line explained to us, having the dance translated into words for us, a foreign audience, only detracted from the quality of the poetry.
The performance marked a journey of love, an attempt at giving form to different experiences of love: Spiritual love, love for earth, and jealous love.
The final dance was, again as is the tradition with bharata natyam, an exploration and exhilaration of dance itself. It served as a reminder that this was first and foremost a physical art that we were watching with a heritage that wished to explode beyond the narrative it was serving. It allowed for further rhythmic explorations than the previous numbers, and included accentuated play between Mavin Khoo and his musicians, moments of echoed responses with percussionist RR Prasad. Although the latter's presence could at no time be ignored; his hands were a dance in themselves.
This was however not a lighthearted evening, and took for much concentration. The repetitious structure of the dance is tiring if one does not look for the detail. But Mavin Khoo's agility transposed this, even in the mostly grounded work. This was a performance that served as homage to the corporality of the dancer.