You cannot Look away: Odissi
PUBLISHED April 5th, 2014 05:12 am | UPDATED May 9th, 2018 03:13 am
Between tilted torso and the heaved heel,
swaddled soft in sounds
of beating drums,
the pulse of a People throbs,
you cannot look away
Lifting voices, lilting rise
Seeking the light
Of a still swollen moon,
Back and beneath the Starry black
Of the dark unanimous Night
you cannot look away
Silken moonbeams Carouse
faraway fragrances,
A thousand roses mixed in
Sandalwood paste,
Incense and smoke,
Still,
A lumpen, loving heart beckons
Beckoning beats Unabashed:
you cannot look away
Eyes fixed on the dance,
The dancer drops in
Devout, distilled,
Devoured and distant
you cannot look away
Liquid wrists feign
fully fledged flowers,
Fingers bloom lotus petals
Languid limbs stream
By seated lovers:
you cannot look away
Head upon chest
Palm upon breast
Cheek by lips; taste on tongue tip
you cannot look away
Breathing each other in
Drowning in eye pools
Swooning, swaying,
Soothing still;
Sighing
you cannot look away
Dance invites us to gaze on the body as it intersects space and time. This is the body as living event. The repertoire of Odissi traditionally connects the physical with the divine. In this programme, however, we will attempt a more concentrated focus on the pure physicality of the dance. The corporeality of the form. Highlights will thus fall on extending and elaborating interstices. Those spaces left for the creativity of the dancer that the conventions of Odissi permit.
The evening will open with a mangalacharan and will then veer away to a batu interspersed with new inventions . This will be followed by a pallavi and an expression of abhinaya drawing on the work of the contemporary Tamil poet Cheran.
Tickets from $27. Purchase [here](http://preview.sistic.com.sg/events/odissi0514)
