{"id":12240,"date":"2011-05-06T23:28:33","date_gmt":"2011-05-07T06:28:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=12240"},"modified":"2013-03-16T08:26:19","modified_gmt":"2013-03-16T15:26:19","slug":"nrityagram-dance-ensemble-at-suzanne-dellal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=12240","title":{"rendered":"Nrityagram Dance Ensemble at Suzanne Dellal"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Nrityagram Dance Ensemble at Suzanne Dellal\/Photo: Elizur Reuveni<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The performance of the Nrityagram Dance Ensemble<\/a> at the Suzanne Dellal Centre<\/a> in Tel Aviv was a night to remember \u2013 a rare opportunity to experience Odissi dance tradition of India as performed by one of the leading dance companies in India. The company presented \u015ariyah, a program of excerpts from a decade of dance, as part of the Celebrating India in Israel month-long festival of events.<\/p>\n

Performing the dances were Pavithra Reddy, Bijayini Satpathy and Surupa Sen \u2013 Artistic Director and Choreographer. Each dance sequence was preceded by narration that not only set the mood for the piece, but offered a context through which to view Odissi dance. Unlike classical ballet and other Western forms of dance, Odissi dance began as a form of worship, \u201cborn out of the temple walls and brings to life the sculpture that ornaments those walls.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the dancers performed, one could immediately recognize the formal structure and ritual aspect of the dance, in which the aesthetic and the spiritual are as one. To anyone familiar with traditional Indian art, there was a feeling of affinity between the visual and dance traditions. It is a dance as rich in symbolism, as it is in sensual lyricism. The dancers move with exquisite beauty, the hands as eloquent as the face, the eyes as much a part of the dance as the body\u2019s movement.<\/p>\n

Music is an integral element of the dance, although in this case it was not performed live onstage, one is always conscious of its presence as part of the dance, rather than an accompaniment. The role of music is reflected in the credits, which not only indicate the music composer \u2013 Pandit Raghunath Panigrahi, assisted by Srinibas Satapathy, but also the rhythm composer \u2013 Dhaneswar Swain and Surupa Sen.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Nrityagram Dance Ensemble at Suzanne Dellal\/Photo: Elizur Reuveni<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Some dances recount a narrative, through a language of movement. Even those who do not know the narrative or meaning of the specific gestures can experience the emotional narrative of the dance as well as its aesthetic aspect. Other dances are more abstract, reveling in the pleasure of form.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Nrityagram Dance Ensemble at Suzanne Dellal\/Photo: Elizur Reuveni<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Watching the dancers in all the transformations of the dance \u2013 solemn, sensuous, precise, playful, and moving with tantalizing slowness or joyful agility \u2013 was a mesmerizing experience.\u00a0 It was a delicious taste that awakened my interest in Indian dance.<\/p>\n

Nrityagram Dance Ensemble: Pavithra Reddy, Bijayini Satpathy, Surupa Sen
\nMusic Composer: Pandit Raghunath Panigrahi, assisted by Srinibas Satapathy
\nRhythm Composer: Dhaneswar Swain and Surupa Sen
\nCostumes: Ghulam Rasool Tailor
\nLighting Director: Lynne Fernandez
\nArtistic Director\/Choreographer: Surupa Sen
\nExecutive Director: Lynne Fernandez<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The performance of the Nrityagram Dance Ensemble at the Suzanne Dellal Centre in Tel Aviv was a night to remember \u2013 a rare opportunity to experience Odissi dance tradition of India as performed by one of the leading dance companies in India. The company presented \u015ariyah, a program of excerpts from a decade of dance, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12240\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}