So following my interest in Minai's alapadma (or maybe Kathakali or Balanese dance hands) to jazz hands theory, I primarily worked on exploring alapadma developing in and out of jazz hands. Following descriptions of Bob Fosse, I also tried emphasizing a few other isolations in eyes and even eyebrows (I had heard of Fosse using those!) In my research one of his dancers explained how "We've Got Magic To Do" from Pippin, which is the same song I used, often is performed without the correct intention. Thus, I also became interested in how Fosse keeps movements and emotions small and understated and likes to create a darker, often sexual tension under the surface.
Vimeo link: https://vimeo.com/68277114
password: Cabaret
Cabaret Travels 1: Magic To Do from Shyamala Moorty on Vimeo.
Feedback questions:
1. Do you find anything interesting in terms of the movement choices? Please point out any moments that stand out to you, or that you could imagine developing or exploring further.
2. I am interested in Bob Fosse's tactics of creating sexual tension because it relates to our previous work on courtesans and how the classical Indian dance forms that they practiced have often been de-sexualized. It seems the opposite of the stereotype I have of the jazz dancing that evolved out of Fosse's work as an over-sexualized, unsubtle commercial form. I was working on tapping into what I feel Fosse's original intent was here, but am not sure what purpose I might serve by doing so. When reading about Cabaret I was very interested in the possibility for satire and political commentary but couldn't come up with a clear idea to make this study take that route. What, if anything, could this study be accomplishing? Does it comment on alapadma and jazz hands or anything else in any meaningful way? If not, how could I modify it to contain some sort of subversion, satire, or political commentary?
3. Any other comments, ideas, and/or connections to cabaret or others' creative responses?
Vimeo link: https://vimeo.com/68277114
password: Cabaret
Cabaret Travels 1: Magic To Do from Shyamala Moorty on Vimeo.
Feedback questions:
1. Do you find anything interesting in terms of the movement choices? Please point out any moments that stand out to you, or that you could imagine developing or exploring further.
2. I am interested in Bob Fosse's tactics of creating sexual tension because it relates to our previous work on courtesans and how the classical Indian dance forms that they practiced have often been de-sexualized. It seems the opposite of the stereotype I have of the jazz dancing that evolved out of Fosse's work as an over-sexualized, unsubtle commercial form. I was working on tapping into what I feel Fosse's original intent was here, but am not sure what purpose I might serve by doing so. When reading about Cabaret I was very interested in the possibility for satire and political commentary but couldn't come up with a clear idea to make this study take that route. What, if anything, could this study be accomplishing? Does it comment on alapadma and jazz hands or anything else in any meaningful way? If not, how could I modify it to contain some sort of subversion, satire, or political commentary?
3. Any other comments, ideas, and/or connections to cabaret or others' creative responses?
(1) It is slightly difficult for me to separate the movement vocabulary from how it is framed, mirrored, and filmed, but I particularly like the eyebrow articulation and the shoulder-oriented movement at 1:01. On a movement level I think that the investigation of the jazz hands alongside alapadma adds more texture to your hastas, which could be an interesting direction to explore further. The transitions between the two felt seamless rather than one of juxtaposition.
ReplyDelete(2) I enjoyed the sultry, understated, and in-charge sexuality of your performance. For me it is already a political statement to create a physical embodiment of eroticism on a female dancing body that is not objectifying. Key to this, in your study, is how you take charge of the viewer's gaze through your choices of how to enter and exit the frame of the camera, which is complicated in compelling ways by the mirror (more about that below). My only thought about how you might further develop this is through the introduction of more sanchari bhavas (transitory emotions) into the overall sthyai bhava (dominant emotion).
Another possible political valence is that creating embodied connections between jazz and Indian dance may be seen as foregrounding an intercultural connection that did exist historically (a la Jack Cole), but which is usually forgotten in dominant histories of American dance.
(3) The most striking part of this study on both aesthetic and meaning levels is its choreography of "the double" through your use of the mirror. Parts of your body appear in the background and foreground, sometimes your fingers frame your body in satisfyingly unexpected ways, you create a productive confusion about which is live and which is not. You turn towards and dialogue with yourself, undermining the sense that your dance is for our consumption. The only parts where visual confusion is disrupted are when you face the camera directly (such as 0:27-0:46) and the mirror shows the back of your head in a way that does not seem as intentional or charged. When facing the camera directly, I prefer it when some part of your body blocks the back of your head in the mirror. All moments of profile, turning towards the mirror, and body parts entering and exiting the frame are quite interesting visually.
The mirror or double has many rich possible connotations, including the myth of Narcissus (the greek myth of the male youth who fell in love with himself), the doppelganger, and many more...
1) I found the very beginning, just seeing the fingers moving slightly very inviting and think there is a lot of potential to be explored in focusing this way on just the hands and how the fingers articulate and morph between jazz hands and alapadma. You can then tease out meanings from the exploration. That said, I also found the direct gaze you had and the subtle nuances with your eyes (raising the eyebrows, glancing side to side), created a pulsating sexual tension and could be another thing to explore on its own.
ReplyDelete2) I think what you have in this study is a great starting point for many possibilities, depending upon what direction you want to take it. Your play with the gaze and sexual tension or the exploration of only hands could move into the realm of satire or commentary about Cabaret. Perhaps the meaning and direction will reveal themselves if you continue exploring?
3) I also feel, as Cynthia does, that the mirror creates a very interesting addition to the lens. How might you continue to intentionally use the mirror as reflections, doubles, conversation, dialogue, or voyeur? Your sexual confidence and nuances directly connect to Cabaret for me.
FROM ADITEE:
ReplyDelete1) I find all the movement choices interesting. I even like the highlighting of the eyes with kajal and looking through the fingers. I feel the jazz hands and the alapadma could be an interesting motif to work with through and through.
2) I am not sure if I understood your question fully but there is something I felt I understood better with relation to the tawaf/courtesan- her performance and the performance of the cabaret dancer. Not sure if I can comment on the Bob Fosse question yet (I need to understand it a little more) but I feel, 'Adayegi' is something which I think communicates the sexual tension present in the performance of courtesans. I am not sure I can articulate what I am thinking, but I feel the work that the eyes do in case of the tawayaf's performance and how she becomes the keeper of many secrets/stories/narratives of people of power could be juxtaposed with the position of the cabaret performer could be an interesting space to explore?
So, questioning the position of the spectator in case of the cabaret and mujra could be very interesting and maybe lead to a political or satirical path ? The position of the rasik/ the patron and mostly 'his' social position and status and the what 'he' stands for and what his presence at 'such a gathering' means could be sections that could interesting to investigate.
3) I think playing more with the eyes and the element of suspense and secrecy could be something we could work with and develop further.
From SANDRA:
ReplyDelete1. hands, in the beginning - near the camera until the pulling/gliding with "jazz hands" (until 00:30, from very beginning on,
but actually, even after 00:30 until 00:50 (eyebrows), what makes the movements super interesting here is how you use the camera and move side-side and further away/closer to…
the eyebrows are awesome, with your serious/sultry look - (reminds me of one brief moment in the rocky horror picture show….)
and at the end (last 5 seconds)
the flower accented on the chimes (00:58?)
hand on should while turning around and then down the arm (around a minute-01:07)
2. I really like it visually and in terms of the atmosphere it creates-- it works set in a private environment, taking the movements and the dance out of the public space of a bar.
It does comment on jazz/alapadma connection in that it-- I feel at least-- brings the Indian elements in, highlights their eroticism, but does not "exoticize"-- why it does not I am not sure… definitely the costume.
I think that is the route it can be subversive-- at least in a specific context, for a specific audience.
3. I really like the camera/mirror/focus work-- I think there is something very very interesting there!