Passionately For Pina

It was wild and mystical at the same time. It also magically encapsulated the passion of the artist the performance was dedicated for. For Pina…, a performance in homage to the German choreographer Pina Bausch, was put together by the Bangalore-based Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts (ACMA) on February 2 at Qutb Shahi Tombs. Pina, one of the biggest names in the global contemporary dance scene, had succumbed to cancer in June 2009.

Department of Tourism, Archaeology and Museums, Government of Andhra Pradesh, collaborated with Goethe-Zentrum Hyderabad in organising this site-specific promenade performance. This means that while the performers moved around utilising the space of the magnificient heritage site, in a choreography that was not confined to a stage, the audience shifted with them too.

Jayachandran Palazhy, trained at Kalakshetra, Chennai, and the London Contemporary Dance School, choreographed the performance. The theme was man-woman relationship in a contemporary context, a favourite of Pina too. Jay, also the founder of ACMA, had worked with her when she toured India.

Jay’s team of dancers, who oozed energy in every sense of the word, was a delight to watch. Like possessed spirits unconscious of their bodies, they soared far and wide. Draped in sensuous red, they illustrated perfectly how a performance that comes from the depths of artistes’ hearts can invigorate the souls of even those who are not trained in art.

The sound technology put to use was out of the world. Hyderabad has probably not seen before speakers shaped like dolphin, snail, horse and what not! Live Electronics specialists Lorenzo Brusci and Luca Cnciella created a surreal environment with their compositions and fancy gadgets. A video installation designed by Chris Zeigler formed the perfect background for the act. Particularly, the effects for the part where Jay enacted drowning were breathtaking.

The event, which was inaugurated by Information and Public Relations Minister Dr. J Geetha Reddy, also had Jayesh Ranjan IAS and Padmasri Dr. Ananda Shankar Jayant as Guests of Honour. Ananda also introduced the troupe and the act to a limited but keen audience. The performance was followed by the screening of a documentary on Pina Bausch.