This extremely creative piece by Shobana Jeyasingh had a definite mood-altering effect on me.
The performance was in three parts;
The first was a run-through of the Bayadere story, with each of the characters appearing behind a screen that switched to the projection of a blog being written by the narrator. He is onstage with his tablet as the audience enters and the screen behind him acted as a mirror to the waiting audience. The creative fuse was lit!
Once each of the characters had been introduced they came in front of the screen and the narrator summed up the plot as Bollywood but found Indian authenticity in the lengthy wedding ceremony.
In the second part, we move to the re-creation of the visit of five Indian temple dancers to Europe in 1838. As a backdrop, there are the words of captivated comment on the dance made by Theophile Gautier who went to see them. The repetitive words, subdued lighting and writhing of the dancers creates the feeling of a drug-like stupour.
Finally, the third part is pure dance - no words; no blog. Again full of writhing and with the music of Gabriel Prokofiev coming to the fore, the performance closes with the narrator once more assuming the stage.
Overall, I thought this was an excellent hour and would happily see it all again.
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