The Macphail Centre, Ullapool, 19 November 2009

THE MACPHAIL Centre became an exotic location last Thursday thanks to a visit from Edinburgh-based dance company Ihayami. The dancers wear bells strapped round their ankles which emphasise each stamping step, yet supreme skill ensures that there is variation in intensity between movements.

Dance Ihayami (Photo - Maria Falconer)

The costumes are brightly coloured and elaborate but cleverly designed to accommodate movement. A front row seat is a passport to a sensory experience augmented by the musky scent of exotic perfumes and strewn rose petals. The soundtrack varies between Indian music and more familiar Celtic tunes. This company is all about fusion and there is a bold approach to the merging of culture.

Classical South Indian dance grew up over millennia and was centred around Hindu temples. Children are no longer recruited to a hard life as dedicated dance apprentices, but the sequences still tell stories from religious tradition.

Attend a workshop in classical Indian dance and you will gain an appreciation of the precision of the form. Irish-born Karen Watts took an adult evening workshop in Ullapool the day before the performance, then took around 45 primary pupils through their paces on Thursday morning.

The mudras or hand gestures prescribe the exact position of each digit, and each shape has a meaning. There is, for example, a sign for deer, man, woman, fish and, of course, ones which depict the Hindu gods. Students learn a new visual vocabulary which allows for vivid story telling.

There is also a focus on facial expression or bharatnantyum. Eyebrows quiver, eyes widen in surprise and smiles fade to convey fear or horror. Meanwhile, the stamping steps – referred to as adavus – are fun to learn at a basic level. Achieving the speed and accuracy of Ihayami’s dancers, however, takes years of dedication.

During the performance, a voiceovers introduced each segment, laying down plot outline. One traditional sequence told the story of the god Krishna, who is reputed to have stolen clothing which had been left on the river bank by milkmaids while they took a swim.

The story goes that their pleas for the return of their garments met with instructions that they should exit the water with arms above their heads. The moral of the tale is that one should aspire to non-attachment of the body and a focus on the divine.

Ihayami never allow the prescriptive, almost scientific exactitude of the form to stultify. Rather, true enjoyment, vivacity and grace bring the moves alive. In turn, the audience is infused by electric enthusiasm. And, during the contemporary segments, new light is shed on the ceilidh tradition. Lightening footwork and graceful gestures emphasise an underlying universality which speaks of celebration and pride.

These dancers, most of whom have strong connections to India, illustrate technical artistry at its best. They make their efforts seem effortless and, most importantly, fun. An evening in their company is to be recommended, and may just confer some of the benefits of a winter sojourn to Goa – without the expense.

© Jenny McBain, 2009

Links

• Dance Ihayami