An artiste by no means is aware of when, the place or what his supply of inspiration might be. Usually, that inspiration can result in a brand new inventive concept.
Shanmugasundaram, fascinated by French artist Auguste Rodin, conceptualised a thematic dance efficiency based mostly on the sculptor and his works by his medium of expression, Bharatanatyam. Titled ‘Amour’, this manufacturing that premiered in 2006 was introduced as soon as once more at Alliance Francaise lately.
A short Mallari set the tone for the Bharatiyar music, ‘Paayum oli nee enakku’, drawing references from Rodin’s sculptures, ‘Inferno’ and ‘The Thinker’. The facility of thought expressed within the poem and sculptures have been explored on this composition.
The tumultuous relationship between Rodin and his scholar and affiliate Camille Claudel supplied scope to depict a variety of feelings resembling love, ardour, despair, and self destruction. Shanmugasundaram, selecting to be in his consolation zone, chosen the Pantuvarali music ‘Netru varen endru’ to painting the 2 sculptors and their ardour. Whereas the music described the same old nayak-nayika love story by standard imageries, Shanmugasundaram concluded the piece with Rodin’s iconic sculpture, ‘The Kiss.’
Mix of artwork kinds
Curiously, Rodin is alleged to have been so captivated by the picture of Nataraja that he wrote The Dance of Shiva by which he defined how dance, poetry, and sculpture are interrelated. This discovered expression in Shanmugasundaram’s ‘Kunitha puruvamum’, the place he describes the type of the lord of dance.
It’s not typically that you just come throughout displays based mostly on interdisciplinary inspiration, however such ideas name for deeper examine of the artwork kinds concerned and liberated expression. Shanmugasundaram might have pushed the boundaries of his artwork somewhat extra to ascertain the hyperlink between dance and sculpting.
For example, when a celebrated work like ‘The Kiss’, recognized for its grace and abstraction, is chosen for depiction, the artiste ought to have explored the motion vocabulary. Common sancharis can’t convey the feelings depicted within the sculptures. The selection of compositions from the standard dance repertoire too appeared misplaced, and the singer’s excessive decibel rendition disturbed the move of sequences. Consideration to element would have made the efficiency a well-chiselled one.
The Chennai-based reviewer writes on classical dance.