INTENELY SOUL is an enjoyable and fascinating performance of Indian dance and music.

Brother and sister Nirmal Jena and Pratiba Jena Singh follow their father’s school of Odissian classical dance. Spirituality is always an aspect of classical Indian music and dance so this is more than a performance. It is a meditation and a devotion. As Nirmal explains in his commentary on one of the dances, “I drift to reach that moment of transformation.”

On a simple aesthetic level we are treated to energetic and expressive dance from both performers. Pratibha’s costumes are vibrantly coloured and flamboyantly adorned with bells and trinkets, whereas Nirmal is dressed simply in white with ankle bells and minor adornments. Both dancers’ ankle bells enhance the various dance steps. This is accompanied by recorded classical Indian music. We are certainly not talking Bollywood here as it aims to connect us with the divine and a universal consciousness.

There is also a live music component provided by Nirmal and Pratiba, in which they sing and play drums and a squeezebox. Again this is all quite beautiful and aims to transform the performers and the audience. The artists want to bring the audience into that unity of mind, body and spirit. There is a transformational aspect of all great art, be it Western or from other traditions. We can simply be elated, moved or taken away from our everyday experiences but in the Indian tradition there is a further spiritual aspect and a connection with the divine.

Much of the Jena school of Odissian dance style is taken from the friezes on the temple walls in the eastern Indian state of Orissa, especially the sun temple of Konarak. The poses of the apsaras on these temples form a basis of several dances and what would have happened between these poses is imagined by the choreographer and reconstructed into some of the dances we see during the performance. It is quite beautiful to have an apsara dancing in front of you.

A short documentary is shown during the performance made by Dr Alessandra Lopez y Royo on the Jena style of Odissi which further explains the development, influences and philosophy of this style of dance.

INTENSELY SOUL opened in Sydney on 19th September at the Forum in Leichardt. There are performances on Saturday 22nd September, Sunday 23rd September and a workshop on Monday 24th September, before moving to Melbourne and Brisbane.

© Mark Pigott

20th September, 2012

Tags: Sydney Stage Reviews- INTENSELY SOUL, The Forum Leichhardt, Sydney Arts Guide, Mark Pigott.