Shakti 'Pillow Book' reviews Shakti in reviews recent Shakti reviews more Trog reviews

I have previously seen this particular work only on video; it does not film well as much of the performance is in almost total darkness. The human eye copes well with the lack of light, technology doesn't.

This is the least dynamic of the Shakti works that I have seen. It is exceptionally slow paced. The score is gorgeous, ranging from traditional sounding Japanese music, a hymn which I believe is sung in Latin, counter-tenor and piano through to trance. The piece opens with her usual two accompanying dancers in white kimonos performing a very familiar looking sequence of Japanese moves and elegant walks. Their names are unknown to me; on the video they are credited as the VasantaMala Dance Company. Shakti herself is kneeling at the back of the stage, covered in a cloth.

The subtly of these moves are lost on me, but this type of dancing looks graceful and it has a calming effect. Shakti then stands and is dressed in a richly embroidered kimono. There is a section here in which an assistant combs her hair. I interpret this as preparing for the ensuing seduction and courtship.

The second movement features Shakti swirling around in red flowing robes. This continues for some minutes. She is bathed in red light. I am not convinced the movements fit the music, but as a visual effect it is pretty good. She seems almost to float. Persistence of vision is a trick many lighting technicians employ.

We now get to the section that has been devalued in the press as Shakti getting her kit off so she can be painted. All three dancers bare their backs. Artist Mieko Nishimura quickly paints a squiggle or perhaps a Japanese character on the back of the two assistants. The dance here involves a lot of looking over their shoulders seductively and performing contractions.

The two assistants exit and Shakti stands in all her naked glory as Nishimura paints first her back and then, after Shakti turns to a 3/4 view, her front. A lot of time is spent with her standing having her body painted. This is not terribly erotic and the sequence drags. Nothing can be done though, as the paint is an important part of the performance. Painting is the one sequence I do remember from the Greenaway film (my only other exposure to "The Pillow Book"), so I assume that Shonagon writes it about.

Once the painting is completed, the dance is stunning. The score is a counter-tenor (possibly singing in French) with piano accompaniment; the overall effect reminded me of some early music recording that I have. Simple and lush at the same time, with the vocals soaring over the piano. Shakti dances to seduce her lover (the audience). She knows that the face is a very important part of dance. How often has a performance of superb technical virtuosity, marred by a fixed, expressionless smile? There is none of that with Shakti. She can be seductive, innocent, predatory, sexy, dominate, animalistic, submissive and free-spirited, all in the time span it took to read this sentence. She can devastate with a single look. We get the powerful kathak foot stamps punctuating this section of the work. How she does not hurt her feet is a mystery.

For the final movement to a techno/trance beat, she dons a long wrap skirt and performs a typically Shakti series of wild gyrations. Lots of head and hair in this. We still get the incredibly beautiful hand and arm movements, as if to remind us that all is not wild. There is an inner stillness and serenity.

Of course we get the usual Shakti philosophy at the end. She explains that "The Pillow Book" was written in an era when women were repressed, much more so than today. (Mental note: none of the women I know would let themselves be repressed!) She says that when we sleep on our pillow, we enter a world without bounds, a world of dreams. In this world we can do as we see fit. We should expand this to our physical lives. Shakti says our lives and bodies are a canvas, to paint as we see fit. We can use bright or dull colours and bold or fine strokes. You may finish the painting within your lifetime, or it may continue into the next.

This is a good work for a smallish venue like the Arts Theatre. You need to be close to Shakti to see all that goes on in this work. It is not the strongest of Shakti's work (probably my least favourite of the six I know), but it is strong enough to warrant a look. Shakti's presence as a performer no doubt helps in this regard.

Mieko Nishimura has an exhibition of paintings in the foyer of the Arts Theatre. The images are fairly accurate representations of Shakti's work, without being mere photographs. I have found one on the Internet here http://www.thegarageinternational.com/text/Avignon/mieko.htm This same link features a picture of Shakti being painted.

The Arts Theatre has a special offer on this week, of a combined ticket for "The Pillow Book" and "The Vagina Monologues". Two works written by women and presenting a view of the world through a woman's eyes.