Sensual elegance describes this solo performance by Shantala Shivalingappa. The piece is called Solo and was choreographed in collaboration between Pina Bausch and Shantala Shivalingappa. The music is by Ferran Savall, titled “Paris”.
Shivalingappa is a dancer from dual cultures. She was born in Madras (Chernai), India and grew up in Paris. She studied East Indian dance with her mother and later was mentored by Vempati Chinna Satyam in the Kuchipudi Indian Classical style. She is now an internationally acclaimed Kuchipudi classical dancer dedicated to introduce this dance form to the West.
Growing up in Paris, Shivalingappa was also exposed to contemporary dance where she has expanded her repertoire by working with contemporary choreographers from Bejart, Ushio Amagatsu, and Pina Bausch.
The solo in this video was created in a joint collaborative process with Pina Bausch when, Shivalingappa was doing a work residency with the Tanztheatrer Wuppertal Company. She was personally invited by Pina Bausch to dance and tour with the company in her works, O Dido and Bamboo Blues.
Solo is strongly influenced by Shivalingappa’s East Indian classical background which we see in the precise arm, hand and finger movements and body positions. They are woven into the very distinct Bausch style of movement and representation with the gorgeous black gown, the grounded sensibility and intimate abandon with the swaying hair. The graceful motion and forms weave languidly in and of the eastern and western vernacular buoyed by the “easy-going and lilting rhythms of the music. Not as intense and raw as Bausch’ movement is usually known for, but this solo does have a sensual depth and carefree almost “blissed-out” sensibility with a touch of melancholy that I find satisfying to watch.
Shivalingappa is a beautifully expressive dancer with a wonderful natural lightness and grace. I find her captivating to watch as she takes us on a very personal and mysteriously exotic journey.
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