They say that practice makes perfect. But to witness the perfected end-result of years of training is quite a satisfying experience.
The Park New Festival recently concluded with Gnosis, a production by Akram Khan, in which he combined classical kathak with his contemporary dance roots.
The show began with the delivery of two pieces that retained the traditional style of performing kathak — 'Polaroid Feet' and Tarana.
With his swift and quick hand movements and footwork that was full of grace, he kept the audience enthralled. Since all his pieces were solos, he danced like he was the king of the stage. There was also a section called 'Unplugged', which saw a musical performance by musicians like Lucy Railton on cello, Bernhard Schimpelsberger on drums and cajon, Kartik Raghunathan on violin, B C Manjunath on mridangam and Sanju Sahai on tabla.
A jugalbandi between Akram —who made beats with his feet and ghungroos — along with the percussionists was also unique and interesting. Before he began Gnosis, Akram went on stage and shared a few anecdotes about his musical experiences.
"There are two kinds of encounters with people — scheduled ones and those that happen by accident. What happens in both of these are very unique experiences. My encounter with kathak has been a mix of the two. Though people associate me with contemporary dance, the only place I can find spirituality in is Indian classical dance," shares the dancer.
"It's a great pleasure to be in Bangalore for my third visit. As always, the response has been overwhelming," he adds.
Gnosis portrayed the chapter of Gandhari and Duryodhana from the Mahabharata. It showed the ritual of birth, the innocence of the relationship between mother and son, his transformation from man to beast as he becomes more powerful, and finally, her death.
Pursuing the idea of the 'knowledge within', it showed the choreographer's exploration of the inner and outer battles of characters — both the human and the godly.
The idea of darkness and vision came through with the effective use of lighting. Akram and Fang-Yi-Sheu, who played Gandhari, moved like mirror images of each other with great precision and grace. It was hard to shut one's eyes for the fear of missing out on the performance.
"It was a very powerful and enthralling performance. I'm a bhakt of his work now," says Vandana Poddar, who was mesmerised by the entire evening.
The prolonged standing ovation that they received after the performance spoke for itself.
"I felt that it was really absorbing, both for the music and the dance. He was excellent in kathak as well as his contemporary dance style and it was difficult to differentiate between the two. His mind and body coordination was superb!" says V Raghu, a member of the audience.
The Park New Festival recently concluded with Gnosis, a production by Akram Khan, in which he combined classical kathak with his contemporary dance roots.
The show began with the delivery of two pieces that retained the traditional style of performing kathak — 'Polaroid Feet' and Tarana.
With his swift and quick hand movements and footwork that was full of grace, he kept the audience enthralled. Since all his pieces were solos, he danced like he was the king of the stage. There was also a section called 'Unplugged', which saw a musical performance by musicians like Lucy Railton on cello, Bernhard Schimpelsberger on drums and cajon, Kartik Raghunathan on violin, B C Manjunath on mridangam and Sanju Sahai on tabla.
A jugalbandi between Akram —who made beats with his feet and ghungroos — along with the percussionists was also unique and interesting. Before he began Gnosis, Akram went on stage and shared a few anecdotes about his musical experiences.
"There are two kinds of encounters with people — scheduled ones and those that happen by accident. What happens in both of these are very unique experiences. My encounter with kathak has been a mix of the two. Though people associate me with contemporary dance, the only place I can find spirituality in is Indian classical dance," shares the dancer.
"It's a great pleasure to be in Bangalore for my third visit. As always, the response has been overwhelming," he adds.
Gnosis portrayed the chapter of Gandhari and Duryodhana from the Mahabharata. It showed the ritual of birth, the innocence of the relationship between mother and son, his transformation from man to beast as he becomes more powerful, and finally, her death.
Pursuing the idea of the 'knowledge within', it showed the choreographer's exploration of the inner and outer battles of characters — both the human and the godly.
The idea of darkness and vision came through with the effective use of lighting. Akram and Fang-Yi-Sheu, who played Gandhari, moved like mirror images of each other with great precision and grace. It was hard to shut one's eyes for the fear of missing out on the performance.
"It was a very powerful and enthralling performance. I'm a bhakt of his work now," says Vandana Poddar, who was mesmerised by the entire evening.
The prolonged standing ovation that they received after the performance spoke for itself.
"I felt that it was really absorbing, both for the music and the dance. He was excellent in kathak as well as his contemporary dance style and it was difficult to differentiate between the two. His mind and body coordination was superb!" says V Raghu, a member of the audience.