I?ve got a new review of the Chitresh Das Dance Company?s latest premiere up on Voice of Dance:
? ?I am turning 60 and one-quarter of 60 is 15 and half of that is 7 and one-half, so that is what I will dance,? Pandit Chitresh Das announced at the Cowell Theater Saturday night (Nov. 6) before launching into a flurry of brilliant rhythms and arch facial expressions. He spun in ever more syncopated flashes; he dragged his toes so that the heavy bells on his ankles hissed like snakes; he doubled the phrase to 15 beats and assumed the fleeting, sensual guise of Lord Krishna, imaginary hunting bow striking on a devastating final stop.
Indeed, there is mystical meaning in numbers when it comes to Kathak, the North Indian classical form that stresses mathematically complex rhythms over storytelling. And here?s another number worth noting. It?s been 34 years since Chitresh Das came to America with a dream of teaching what he calls his ?rainbow coalition??a multi-racial company that embodies the universal appeal of Classical Indian culture.?
Also freshly posted to the site is Allan Ulrich?s review of Alonzo King?s ?Before the Blues,? which Allan finds one of his best works (I?m looking forward to seeing it this weekend):
?King created Before the Blues at White Oak Plantation in Northern Florida (in between hurricanes) and it is footage of that area of the world we see at the beginning of the piece, projected on twin rear screens, images of nature at its most serene. Sanders offers “Let Us Go Into The House of the Lord,” a mournful sax commentary, a threnody, really. King has structured the work as a 15-part suite, each section distilling a particular moment or suggesting a historical situation. Working with small complements of dancers – all eight rarely appear together – has focused the choreographer?s craft and his intentions in a manner that recalls the splendid pieces commissioned from him recently by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.?
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