Fringe 97
Sita Dances Pierre Vives Studio Fringe Studio Ends tonight A Westerner with a dot between her eyes performing Indonesian and Indian dance on an Asian stage conjures an embarrassing image of cross-cultural hijacking.
But instead, Sita Dances reveals the tantalising possibilities of fusion, courtesy of a dancer with sustained and obvious commitment and an accompanying Western quintet playing contemporary classical music.
The programme described the dance as a visual narrative. But unless you know your Ramayana it would have been difficult to construct even the bare bones of the story. The same tale - of Sita's abduction and subsequent return to her husband Rama - was performed here in October by the Balinese Kecak Monkey Dance and Gamelan Orchestra as part of the Asian Arts Festival. It fused elements of dance, drama, movement and music into an aesthetic whole, while also working on the level of linear narrative.
During Karensa Johnston's dance on Monday night, my eyes flitted from the dance to screened snatches of dialogue that were frequently overwhelmed by the graphics. Beautiful but distracting mythological paintings flashed up throughout. It was a case of needing to bring the story to the dance rather than reading the story within the dance.
Without a narrative framework, Johnston was often left looking like a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The audience had been primed to expect a feminist piece. Within such a context, we could at least construct images of the shared suffering of women - from East or West.
The restless, seething music of Michael Nyman and Jo-Anne Abbott was a powerful complement to the edginess of Johnston's movements but at times it took over, marginalising the dance.
There was a low point when dancers attempted spoken dialogue. Delivered in a stilted, self-conscious manner, this is best left for school hall performances.
On a positive note, modern dress and an attempt to dissolve then recombine the Asian dance movements into a new dance language could be an exciting way forward for this group.
