Much of innovation in the dance world is now based around how the small/medium dance companies position themselves. The creative juices employed by these dance crews is fostering a rapid change in an erstwhile fatigued dance culture across the college and professional landscape. One such case is that of Urbanation Dance Project (UDP) by an upcoming company Left Foot Right Danceworks(LFRD) based in HSR Layout, Bangalore.
LFRD has interesting moorings. Launched by a group of working professionals to satiate their desire for inventing movements, it is a perfect example of the growing dance culture that Bangalore is witnessing. Not yet a year old, one cannot fail to notice the rapid strides that these dedicated group of dancers are making in re-shaping the dance space. "Dance Alloy 2015" was their first big showcase where they exposed their interest in different movement styles like Kalari, Jazz, lyrical hip hop and contemporary. This was also a big learning curve as a big showcase always is for a upcoming dance company.
As the UDP came after a clear 2 months post their first bigger showcase, one can notice the change in the thought process. First and foremost was the lineup of instructors for the project. Two famed contemporary dancers, an upcoming improvisation exponent and three from different urban styles made up an interesting synergy between the stage and the street. The contemporary dancers-Ryan Martyr and Eden Pereira need no introduction. As they graced the project with their flowing styles, the audience was left gasping to catch their deep movements. Eden who has been schooled in ballet introduced the participants to the intricacies of his movement,especially, the leg work. It was in clear understanding of how much effort has been put in developing and mastering this niche skill. Kudos to that !
The three urban dancers-Ravi, Maryann and Junaid were not far behind. Ravi Varma is a class act. Hip Hop has been gaining ground in the college scenes and in the dance culture for quite some time. In his routine, Ravi introduced the participants to connect their feeling with dance irrespective of the song and the language. As it came across, the participants did not feel the need to understand the lyrics of a Tamil song where the overpowering emotion of a lost love was so nicely connected in his dance vocabulary. If participants were feeling the emotional connect in this crazy hip hop routine,
Maryann's dancehall unleashed a feeling of glee across the board. Maryann is an upcoming dancehall exponent based in Chennai. As she introduced the participants to the nitty gritties of dancehall which has evolved from the Caribbean dance styles, the participants found fun in movements as they were made comfortable with the ease that dancehall demands. Much needs to be seen how dancehall shapes out in front of the hip hop scene. If all of the learning of new styles had worked out the participants, Atul's session on contact improvisation made them have a massaging feeling. The participants were made aware of the use of space and challenged to come up with their own vocabulary.It was a much needed therapeutic session as the participants drove deep into their own minds and bodies to extract the answers to the questions that they often forget to put forth. Atul's maturity in handling the charge must not be forgotten.
The second point that LFRD did with UDP did was to have it for an extended duration. Spanned over three days, it exposed participants the different dance style for a longer time. This allowed the participants to assimilate the dance styles more clearly than the one day one session format which is
so popular today. This needs to be propagated to allow a much deeper understanding in movements rather than just scratch the surface and leaves the audience more satisfied. Last but not the least was the amazing question answer session. The insights into the growing process of a dancer in his own style is always a learning experience for all. There was a great deal of laughter and enthusiasm flowing to and fro between the instructors and their participants. The best way to end this is probably to leave you with a video which should speaks for itself. Bring more of this on LFRD !
As the UDP came after a clear 2 months post their first bigger showcase, one can notice the change in the thought process. First and foremost was the lineup of instructors for the project. Two famed contemporary dancers, an upcoming improvisation exponent and three from different urban styles made up an interesting synergy between the stage and the street. The contemporary dancers-Ryan Martyr and Eden Pereira need no introduction. As they graced the project with their flowing styles, the audience was left gasping to catch their deep movements. Eden who has been schooled in ballet introduced the participants to the intricacies of his movement,especially, the leg work. It was in clear understanding of how much effort has been put in developing and mastering this niche skill. Kudos to that !
The second point that LFRD did with UDP did was to have it for an extended duration. Spanned over three days, it exposed participants the different dance style for a longer time. This allowed the participants to assimilate the dance styles more clearly than the one day one session format which is
Disclaimer: I was not able to do justice to Ryan and Junaid as I was present only for a day.
