Dance troupe forms multicultural meeting point<\/p>\n
Helly Minarti, Contributor, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Some choreographers of contemporary dance -- including those who
\nhave made it big -- fuse centuries-old traditions into their
\nmodern technique, creating a new, distinct style of their own.<\/p>\n
East meets West, Indian Kathak dance meets the modern in the
\ncase of Briton Akram Khan, or as Taiwanese Lin Hwa-min of
\nCloudgate Dance Company finally discovered as \"the East Asian
\nbody\", referring to his dancers' training in ballet and modern
\ntechniques as well as tai chi and the body work of the Peking
\nOpera.<\/p>\n
For French choreographer Kader Attou of Accrorap, the stage is
\na meeting point of different dance styles, and yet he boldly
\nclaims that what he is trying to create is not a \"fusion\".<\/p>\n
A quite sizzling meeting point, if you talk about a stage
\nwhere streetwise hip-hop dancers perform together with a jazz
\npeer, while the other troupe members are dancers trained in
\nIndian Kathak plus another in Bharatanatyam. It's a case of the
\nOrient meeting the Occident.<\/p>\n
Atop the layers of various dance styles, the one-hour-long
\ndance piece, titled Anokha, is divided into four philosophy-
\nimbued sections: coming together, the purified form of the
\nswastika, Asuras and the nonviolence movement of Gandhi, with 15
\nminutes each. Here, the swastika, infamous as a pan-Aryan symbol,
\nis returned to its original Indian meaning as an auspicious
\nsymbol.<\/p>\n
All of this came together in 2000, when Attou was commissioned
\nto perform in a dance festival in Lyon, correctly themed \"Silk
\nRoute\", which took him to Ahmedabad, India, to source material
\nfor the divine dances (Bharatanatyam used to be a temple dance
\nbefore performed on stage), and put it side by side with his
\n\"profane\" hip-hop.<\/p>\n
Multiculturalism is in the veins of Accrorap. Founded by Attou
\nand Eric Menzino, the founding dancers\/choreographers of Accrorap
\nbelong to different cultural ethos: Attou and Habib Benziane are
\nof Algerian origin, Pierre Bolo is French and Jose comes from
\nSwitzerland.<\/p>\n
Christelle Blanc, the only female dancer of Accrorap,
\nspecialized in jazz before the Indian trio of Vaishali Trivedi,
\nPrashant Shah and Rukmini Chatterjee came along. Sebastian Vela
\nLopez is included on the Indonesian tour.<\/p>\n
Anokha celebrates each dance style within the spacious space,
\nfilling it with eclectic hip-hop movement nicely matched with
\njazz steps, at times intertwined with the slender, flowing,
\nstylized Kathak and the striking Bharatanatyam. At one point, two
\ndancers are engaged in a dialog, more like one posing a question
\nwhile the other responds.<\/p>\n
The music feeds the spirit as the four dance styles delve into
\neach depth, and explore the stage\/space, themselves and
\npossibilities. The approach, surprisingly, feels fresh, and that
\nmeeting point works, wiping out doubts that the idea might slip
\ninto the pitfall of banality of \"patching\" one style with
\nanother.<\/p>\n
Brought here by the French Cultural Centre (CCF) for one-night
\nonly shows in four cities, the performance is revealing in the
\nbeautiful truth of contemporary dance that it doesn't have
\nboundaries.<\/p>\n
And presenting something like Accrorap that tells a lot about
\nmulticultural France is at least a more appropriate choice
\ncompared to the huge Karin Saporta troupe that CCF once brought
\nhere.<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>\n
Oct. 7, 2003, 8 p.m.
\nGedung Kesenian Jakarta (GKJ)
\nJl. Gedung Kesenian Jakarta No. 1
\nJakarta
\nTicket box: tel. 380-8283
\nTickets: Rp 20,000, Rp 35,000 (students Rp 15,000)<\/p>\n
Bandung
\nOct. 9
\nTaman Budaya<\/p>\n
Surabaya
\nOct. 11
\nAuditorium Universitas Negeri Surabaya<\/p>\n
Yogyakarta
\nOct. 13
\nTaman Budaya Yogyakarta<\/p>",
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