Impact of performance space on dance

Every dance performance exists in space and time with its unique energy and motion. The space of the performance, its entire environment impacts the communication between artist and audience. Framed by the night sky, temple sanctum or velvet black stage curtains, the dance synergy melds with subtle and not-so-subtle variations in the rasa evoked.

I generally tell my students to look slightly below straight ahead as most theatre seating will otherwise have the audience will be looking at their chin at their chin as they look out over their heads. Of course they also have to be aware of whether there is a balcony so that they take in the entire audience while dancing.

This principle doesn’t apply in all situations as I discovered with thrilling confusion years ago dancing in the cloistered veranda of Chidambaram temple for the first abhishekaram before a later performance at midnight on the outside stage for Shivratri. With, both a shrine to Govindaraja, the reclining form of Vishu and one dedicated to Brahma-Chandikeshvara in the same courtyard, I had not only the bewilderingly awesome experience of raising my gaze, but also attempting to addressing the dance offering to both in their individual shrines at the same time! Dancing at the stroke of midnight for devotees, under the open sky on the stage at the temple was marvellous, but I still get shivers of delight when I recall the feeling of looking from one deity to the other inside the temple.

Anytime one dances under the night sky, encrusted with diamond-like stars, artist and audience can feel the breadth of the universe as the setting; quite different in its magic from the safely managed enclosed space of a proscenium stage. The extension of the performance into the natural world is transformative, whether a secular or spiritual space. The rarified atmosphere of Ladakh is a breathing challenge, but nothing can match dancing in front of the mountains of India’s only cold desert (and the longest painting in India by Naresh Kapuria) on the banks of the Indus River along with Shobana and Deepti Omchery.

Generally, western concert performance choreography uses the architectural space of the stage and must be rehearsed in situ, whether stage or other venue. Dancers have gone outside theaters to perform every conceivable location, from parking lots to building heights. At Trafalgar Square, Kathak dancers performed Kumudini Lakhia’s choreography in a production designed by Naresh Kapuria for the U.K. Akademi. While the Kathak artists moved through the ground environment of rocking bell sculptures, a surreal world of Theater Tol (Belgium) dancers moved overhead in an aerial realm of fantasy movement.

Solo classical Indian dance choreography makes use of the dancer’s personal space which can be expanded or contracted to the space available as long as the dancer knows where center is located. Yet the performance energy and even the subtlety of abhinaya will be modified depending on the size and distance from the audience.

While every performance space has its own character and impact, the intention and ability of the dancer can also transform how this is experienced by the audience. It is possible to create a sacred space in a hotel lobby or pre cocktail conference performance. Conversely, one can see a temple festival atmosphere reduced to a Nautch by a dancer.

Dance that combines dramatic expression, abhinaya, with pure dance movement is best appreciated in smaller performance spaces. An audience size of 150 to 250 is ideal and beyond 600 the impact is vastly diminished. I recall dancing on the Simla Mall for an audience of 20,000 and trying to make the performance “large” enough to be seen at a distance while not seeming overly exaggerated for those close up. It was a pleasure to dance the next day at the historic Gaiety Theatre the next day. This jewel box theatre was built by the British in 1887 as the first proscenium stage in India. The seating capacity is a maximum of 318 on two levels with all seating in close proximity to the stage.

Baitak performances are perhaps the best model for both artist and audience with the intimacy of connection between rasikas and the performer. In the 70’s when I first came to India, I recall this was the model for introducing a professional artist to connoisseurs. A small gathering of knowledgeable dance lovers was all that was needed to spread the word and performance opportunities for a fine young dancer. RIMPA, The Ravi Shankar Institute for Music and Performing Arts, offers a baitak experience through its annual festival. The intimacy of the space and the understanding of the audience that they are invited to savour an extended evening without coming and going enriches the enjoyment. It is an honour for any artist to have the opportunity to perform there and I will always be grateful to Ravi-ji for inviting me to be the first dancer to perform in his annual festival. Sangeet Natak Akademi has also created a beautiful baitak space on their premises and many other institutions also have intimate performance spaces.

The subject of dancing spaces could certainly fill a book. Innumerable examples and ideas bubble up as we think of performances we have seen or given. A chapter, at least, could be on floors alone: flat and raked, sprung wood, marble, uneven ground and treacherous covered platforms that break toes; another on the space of the small and large screen and how to approach this from a camera’s view rather than a stationary audience.

Essentially, the dancer is affected and sometimes inspired by the performance space. He or she must be conscious of how use it effectively as a partner in communication. No one present will ever forget the time Guru Kelucharan was performing the Geeta Govinda Ashtapadi, Pashyati Dishi Dishi at an outdoor venue and the lights went out. For half an hour, as Radha he searched for Krishna among the audience with profoundly moving anguish, desperation and hope, until the lights came back and he returned to the stage to complete the performance.

Sharon Lowen is a respected exponent of Odissi, Manipuri and Mayurbhanj and Seraikella Chau whose four-decade career in India was preceded by 17 years of modern dance and ballet in the US and an MA in dance from the University of Michigan. She can be contacted at sharonlowen.workshop@gmail.com