Should a French choreographer duo, based in Pondicherry for the past few years, be allowed to explore Indian myths, especially when its members have no understanding of it? It would be safe to say that Vast — choreographed and presented by Philippe Pelen Baldini, Thierry Mucazambo and young Nepali dancer, Gopal Dalami, under the aegis of the Alliance Française du Bengale — was an upsetting piece of colonialistic romanticization of distorted Indian folklore.
What it had to offer was very linear in terms of dramaturgy, its pseudo magical-realism so bluntly unacceptable that the experience left a bad taste in the mouth. The paternalistic treatment of a very basic narrative about a homesick young Nepali boy in an Indian slum finding a way to reconnect with the mountains even in his sordid setting was self-indulgent.
The piece represented demeaning caricatures of deities and, by default, of the Indian identity. An erasure of the particularities of Shiva and Hanuman into a homogenous whole, which was called Hanuman, represented a disturbing example of cultural appropriation. Raiding a library of Indian godheads and creating a cringe-inducing mishmash of some of their distinctions for an artistic work reeks of lowly intellectual interloping and revolting narcissism.
Dalami, certainly a fine mover with a remarkably well-trained body, should look to participate in more convincing works in the future if he wishes to ever be taken as a serious artiste.
Shinjan Nrityalaya’s annual programme, held at Rabindra Sadan recently, entitled Nrityanjali , presented some traditional Odishi pieces alongside choreographies by Aloka Kanungo and some other gurus of Odishi. Doing significant work to propagate the dance form in Calcutta, Shinjan has a handful of skilled dancers. The items presented were varied in content, ranging from vandanas and pallavis to works themed on patriotism. The evening came alive with the performances of young practitioners of the form. Light design by Dinesh Poddar, particularly in pieces such as the one titled “Vande Mataram”, was dramatic.
