Theatre
PLAY'BALL ‘ Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Sat 26 Jan
Nina Rajarani is not afraid to mix things up. In her latest show, the London-based choreographer has merged a typically female Indian dance style with two largely male domains: the football pitch and the financial boardroom. Not only that, she’s taken Bharatanatyam - a dance steeped in tradition — and brought it hurtling into the 21st century.
‘lt’s taken me a few years to find the balance between retaining the authenticity of the traditional form, and making it relevant to contemporary audiences,‘ says Rajarani. ‘People need something to relate to, and I think we close a lot of doors when we deal with traditional material, because it's all about Gods and Goddesses.’
Rajarani's company, Srishti has been populated by male dancers for the past few years - an unusual approach for Bharatanatyam, in Britain at least. But according to Rajarani, the style lends itself equally to both sexes. ‘Each step can be done in a masculine or
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feminine way,‘ she explains. ‘The face is very alive in
Indian dance, so the kind of smile you wear or how you move your eyes is different for a man or a woman - but the steps are performed in more or less the same way.’
Opening in Edinburgh, before touring the UK, Rajarani’s triple-bill Play Ball looks at how men behave at work, play and in love. The award-winning Quick finds eight ambitious young businessmen jostling for supremacy. In Chemistry, a male/female couple search for harmony after a lovers tiff. While Bend It. . . jumps headlong into the world of football - something Rajarani was drawn to because ‘it’s such a prominent part of British culture’. Her dancers, however, weren’t so sure.
‘When I told them we were making a piece about football, they were all horrified,’ laughs Rajarani. ‘Not one of them had ever even kicked a ball before. But a football coach came to work with us, so everyone had some proper training. And then they all did a lot of research on their own — watching football matches, chatting to friends — and they’ve been fabulous about putting in their own ideas.’ (Kelly Apter)
arid: EXPECTATIONS
flnn Twist
BARRY Citizens' Theatre. Glasgow. Tue 22-Sat 26 Jan
The Byre Theatre. St Andrews. Thu 31 Jan—Sat 9 Feb, then touring