When I went to see Fall for Dance at the New York City Center on October 8th, I didn’t know what to expect from it. I’ve never been to a big live dance performance before (I have been to my sister’s ballet recitals when I was younger. Does that count?). What I did know was that Fall for Dance is a show that brings dance groups from all around the world to come showcase their dances. The first act that started the show was Shivashtakam (An Ode to Shiva) by Nrityagram, a dance group from India. The first act of a show is usually an act that gets the audience warmed up for the following acts; the last act is the one that closes the show and the one most of us remember, but something about Shivashtakam really stuck to me.
The curtains opened up to a pitch black stage and I was on the verge of falling asleep due to the comfort of the darkness and my lack of sleep the night before trying to finish Biology homework. Then a piercing spotlight appeared and centered on a female dancer wearing elegant Indian garments. I heard some bells ringing and noticed that the dancer had bells on her ankles. All of a sudden, more light was turned on stage and on my left I could see a band of musicians playing instruments and one of them was singing. Another dancer wearing similar clothing as well as bell anklets came onto the stage. The two dancers danced gracefully with one another, but quite forcefully as I could hear their feet stomping the stage and the bells ringing more intensely as the banging of the drum (mardala) and the vocals and chants grew louder and faster. All of this definitely woke me up from my potential slumber.
This dance was exciting and mysterious at the same time. There was a supernatural aura about it especially in the beginning and end when the stage was mostly dark except for a small beam of light on one dancer who was in a still position. It felt very cosmic in a sense with all the darkness surrounding the whole room. Another thing that made it seem supernatural was hearing the constant vibrations of the chants from the musicians. The chants bounced back and forth all over the room and were very religious sounding which added to the performance’s celestial, not of this world feel.
Another thing that I’d like to mention is the strong female presence within this dance. The two female dancers were dressed in elegant attires with hints of gold. In contrast, the male musicians were dressed very modestly. Also, the female dancers were placed in the center of all the action calling out to Shiva through powerful dance movements while the musicians were kind of pushed off to the side. I felt that the choreographers wanted to emphasize the role of the women in the dance rather than the men. The female dancers were the ones that I closely focused on with my eyes. As for the musicians, I rarely looked at them and instead, listened with my ears the music they played and the chants they shouted. This made me wonder about the importance of women not just in this dance, but in the culture and religion of India.
The final thing that I loved about this dance was how comforting I found this whole performance despite its supernatural feel. The dance reminded me of the traditional dances from Thailand that I saw as a kid where females are the dancers while the men play instruments on the side. In addition, a lot of Thai dances are derived from religion and folklore. The precise, sharp hand movements were similar to the ones in Thai dances. The chants from the musicians rang and vibrated in my ears like the chants from the monks did at the Thai temples my parents would bring me to. Being able to experience this dance allowed me to connect it with my own culture and see the similarities between Thai and Indian culture. I was given a newfound appreciation and fascination with my own cultural background. This sense of familiarity provided me with comfort because I knew that even though I wasn’t in Thailand anymore, I could find something that reminded me of it in a dance performance in the City of New York. The important takeaway for me: dance is a bridge between cultures no matter where you are.
