Eye on Dance: Review of 'Avimukta: Where the Seeker Meets the Sacred'

by Emma Edy Morris

Ragamala Dance Company’s performance of Avimukta: Where the Seeker Meets the Sacred, launched Lincoln Center’s week-long celebration of India. Hosted at Damrosch Park they kicked off the week with “an intimate ritual for the stage in which the dancers are seekers engrossed in rituals of sacred contemplation that become an ecstatic prayer celebrating the inevitable dissolution of life.”

Ragamala created an effortlessly infatuating scene. The stage, up against the city sky with a setting sun, the wind blowing the tarps on stage and the trees lining the performance space, a sliver of moon ascending next to the performers… divine magic is a bit of an understatement. Transitions between soloists, soundscapes, and lighting schemes were seamless. It was clearly a multifaceted, complex collaboration between every member of the company and the moments they held onstage, yet each separate component segued beautifully into the next. Even in moments of stillness the dancers’ expressions radiated into the audience.

Founded and led by Co-Artistic Directors Ranee Ramaswamy, Executive Artistic Director Aparna Ramaswamy, and Choreographic Associate Ashwini Ramaswamy, a mother-daughters trio, they not only come together as powerhouses of movement, but as leaders, guiding a company that not only honors their lineage as a family, but honors the company’s roots in the South Indian dance form of Bharatanatyam.

“Through multi-disciplinary dance works for the stage, engaging the community, and educating the next generation, Ragamala epitomizes intercultural and immigrant narratives that evoke a shared sense of humanity.” In a sea of New York City-folk, this mission was clearly accomplished. The evidence lay within the crowd that filled the park, the audiences’ shared intense focus, and the standing ovation that promptly followed the performance. The “shared sense of humanity” ricocheted in moments of audience awe.

Particularly towards the end of the piece, there was a lighting shift, while all dancers are present on stage, a murmur of passion ripples through the crowd with the cue. There is a powerful shadow effect where each dancer becomes larger than themselves, dancing with their huge shadow partner broadcast to the back of the stage. Sheer screens framed the stage and this let the audience in on the dedication each dancer brought to every movement. They continued well beyond the sheer curtains, an “offstage” facade, and even after their sequence ended, they were locked into the performer(s) who still held the stage space. This created a full, harmonious atmosphere, audience included.

The work was powerfully 4-D in texture. 3d-D storytelling takes place as each dancer holds a different form, both individual and unison movements shaping a world on stage. Then the use of powder, or sand, the gorgeous soundscape, the gentle motif of the dancers seemingly raising energy from the ground, and the delightful wind that filled the park- the performance became a full-body experience for audience members. The piece ends with the scooping of water from a bowl that had been discreetly present the whole time. The water is tossed overhead and the lights go out before the droplets hit the ground, leaving an indelible imprint of the performance’s divine landscape.