Choreography lends a distinct character to dance. However, this relationship is not inviolable. The Feldenkrais method — it explores fluid postures to recalibrate the connection between mind and body — is a case in point. Liberated from the strictures of choreography, Feldenkrais practitioners let their somatic impulses guide their movements. A glimpse of this was seen in Watergames, a composition by Michel Casanovas, which was performed by the Sudarshan Chakravorty-led Sapphire Creations Dance Company recently at TopCat CCU.
The fluidity of water was tapped into by the three performers who complemented their internal rhythms with the external sounds of rumbling waves, rippling waters and the stillness before a tempest. They rolled on the floor, used gesticulations, and moved in slow motion across the imagined waterscape, oscillating between meditative postures and relaxed movements, to communicate molecular adhesion and cohesion. In this process of self-exploration, the dancers transcended the rigours of choreography to become the co-creators of the piece.