'Kaash' reviews Khan in reviews Ooi in reviews recent Akram Khan reviews more Renee Renouf reviews

Along with a scintillating mix of modern dancers, buffs and Indians, The Akram Khan ensemble performed Kaash at Yerba Buena Theatre September 18. If the way the audience lingered to converse and compare, Khan has added an outpost in San Francisco. It is just one on a 2.5-month tour of the U.S. and Canada.

What I saw in Kaash, without referring to the program notes, was the Lord Shiva writ large, a member of the Hindu pantheon less frequently treated in Kathak than our delightful scamp, the Lord Krishna. That’s what a little exposure to Indian abhinaya will do for you. What I also saw was the blissful impression of simplicity, which I knew full well, was forged from layers and layers of cultural information and years of training. I also witnessed a quintet of dancers totally on their way in a journey the dance world regards with immense interest.

Paradoxically, there is an Indian miniature at the Asian Art Museum of Rajah Shamser Sen of Mundi, (mid 18th century) standing profile in the guise of Shiva. With almost no adaptation save costume, it could easily be Akram Khan. Or how to get blown away with connections!

Anish Kapoor’s set and Aideen Malone’s lighting conveyed an intense quality of contemporary yet timeless India – dawn; evening; shadows, the liquid element of night; the heat; the intensity of the landscape. With Nitin Sahney’s music, the bols recited with drumming and the Kronos Quartet contribution of John Oswald’s music; all conspired to portray Shiva’s destructive and creative qualities.

Khan has deployed the dancers and himself with the unexpected elements in Kathak; repetition and coherence in an order determined by the dancer; expansion ditto. I was Totally struck by Khan’s use of stillness, the slender silhouette of Inn Pang Ooi at the very beginning, the still center, which gradually impressed itself on the talkative audience, preparing it for the onslaught of figures from stage left.

While Khan may not have been exposed to Kathakali, his use of low thrusts of one leg and bent supporting leg is reminiscent of dances I remember seeing Shivaram perform,as well as Shivaram’s demonstrations of creature life.

Such creature life Khan shows us! I can’t imagine any European artist attempting this with such fusion of spirit. It cinched the impression of Indian earth for me. Never mind the referral of the serpent head which flitted through occasional reference to parts of frequent repeats. While the program notes refer to the Lord Krishna and the God Ganesha,what I saw pervasive was Shiva’s serpent. The extraordinary solo of one female dancer, lifting her torso, undulating serpentine fashion on her stomach across the stage to where Khan stood poised near another female dancer; nothing short of masterful, concept or execution.

The modern dancers I spoke to said they wanted Khan to make a statement, using these elements. Speaking to Yasmen Mehta, former artistic director of California Contemporary Dancers, she informed me Khan’s capacity for bold recitation had playful elements; only someone familiar with the system could appreciate – “It’s very ‘in’, “ she said to me. “His statement is also very subtle and most Westerners who label it as lacking in content don't know it is quite filled with it.”

On reflection, remembering Sanskrit recitation from The Ramayana to the Upanishads, without knowing any Sanskrit at all, there is a glory in the sheer force of recitation. It doesn’t have to go anywhere; it doesn’t have to say anything;it simply vibrates in your skull and lurks around you like a cosmic force. This type of totality, beyond self,is something hard for the Western dancer. Yielding to it requires a special talent, as the three young women in Khan’s company clearly testify. With Inn Pang Ooi, and black, nearly Indian style costumes of Saeunn Huld, Akram Khan has presented his audiences with quite a slice of Asia aided by Western dance and production techniques.

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