Seeta Patel, Rite of Spring

[Lynette H]

This was at Sadler's Wells last night. It's another version of Rite of Spring, this time a version in he classical Indian dance form, bharatanatyam.  Unlike other recent takes on Rite at this address, this actually uses Stravinsky's music - played live with tremendous energy by the Bournemouth Symphony orchestra conducted by Kirill Karabits.  You might think that this is an unlikely marriage, but it works brilliantly, with the noise of feet slapping against the floor underscoring the rhythms.  It was good to see a performance of a new work with live music and where the dancers were so attractively costumed and the stage brightly lit: no gloom here. every tiny, intricate gesture could be read with clarity. This is a revised and expanded version of a work created in 2019. 

 

It is performed by a company of eleven, elegantly grouped and regrouped.  Seeta Patel, the choreographer, does not appear in this but does perform a more classical bharatanatyam solo as an introductory piece (which does have a very dark beginning - this might be the primal chaos out of which the world is being created). 

 

The work is touring later this year - Basingstoke, Poole and Manchester. (No dates yet) Definitely something to check out if you can.  

 

 

[alison]

I thought it was tonight and tomorrow?