“The Finding of the Soul”
Classical Indian dance Bharatanatyam and
electronica music – an exceptional and unique show!
Laxmi Ghimire, dance – Anantakara, music
Bharatnatyam is regarded as “a dance of fire” – the mystical manifestation of the metaphysical element of fire in the human body. It is a highly demanding dance, whose precise frameworks and metrics organize the volutes of a summoned body in all its splendour: no cell escapes the grace set in motion. This dance, once considered sacred, has come out of the temples and onto our stages. It is also intimately associated with Indian classical music and its rhythms.
2014 show, mandala by Jialba and photos by emmanuel crooy
The Bharatanatyam
Originally from South India, Bharatanatyam is considered to be the oldest form of Indian classical dance. Formerly it was only performed in temples by dancers (devadasis) who had dedicated their lives to their art and to the gods. Today it has disappeared from the temples and has taken over the stage.
Bharatanatyam, the word is related to its meaning. On the one hand, Bharata is the ancient name of India and Natyam means dance in Tamil. But also it breaks down into:
- ‘Bha’ – Bhavam (means expression)
- Ra’ – Ragam (music),
- Ta’ – Talam (rhythm)
- and Natyam (dance)
Bharatanatyam is considered “a dance of fire” – the mystical manifestation of the metaphysical element of fire in the human body. It is one of the five main styles (one for each element) which include Odissi (element of water), Kuchipudi (element of earth), Mohiniattam (element of air) and Kathakali (element of ether). It is a solo dance, with two aspects, lasya, the graceful feminine lines and movements, and tandava, the masculine aspect (the dance of Shiva), which correspond to the Yin-Yang of the Chinese Tao. The dancer uses her whole body but also her face and eyes.
A dance so demanding, whose canvas and precise metrics organize the volutes of a body summoned in all its splendour: not a cell escapes the grace set in motion. This dance, once considered sacred, has left the temples to take to the stages. It is also intimately associated with rhythmic Indian classical music.
2013 Rehearsal
It was the first time that Laxmi danced to Western music, and what’s more, totally outside the strict framework of Indian classical music. I met him on his very first European tour. She accepted the challenge with great grace. We met for the first time on the day of the rehearsal. She had previously chosen one of the compositions that I arranged for our performance.
I have listened a lot, heard a lot of Indian music and we had a common background: Sri Aurobindo and his poetic work, Savitri.
What was inspiring was that each one went to meet the other while remaining in his identity, in the universe that is his, without trying to incorporate the universe of the other, nor to be incorporated into it. Like two rivers that sit side by side on their bangs and dialogue with respect. As a result, without realizing it, we have left the ethnic and multicultural patterns of world music to explore other spaces. ( Philippe Wauman)
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Stepping into boundless Joy (2013)
For Laxmi Ghimire, 25 years old, Nepalese, a dancer of Bharatanatyam (the oldest form of classical Indian dance), who is performing for the second time in Europe, the sacred dimension of her art is inseparable from the performance, even if the latter takes place on a stage and not in a temple… During her visit to Brussels, she will present a series of new choreographies, some from the repertoire of her European tour based on recorded classical Indian music and the others, unpublished, created especially and solely for this evening, on the timeless music of Anantakara, around the theme of “The Quest for the Soul“.
Nature’s Longing Drive (april 2014)
Anantakara means “infinite deployment of a form that magnifies itself indefinitely …”. Beneath this word of Sanskrit origin we find a Belgian artist who creates subtly groovy ambient-electro instrumentals, inspired by “the re-enchantment of the world through wonder”, a quest for the meeting point of opposites, “this unexpected that regenerates and fulfills. ».
Laxmi was kind enough to try the adventure with Anantakara once again: for these two artists, few preliminary rehearsals, but a lot of concentration, a communion between them and what connects them to something greater than themselves, a state of receptivity and listening in which the audience participates by its full presence, creatively also by its attention…
he animated mandalas were proposed by the painter. Ignacio Baranga, a guarantee of an unforgettable moment!
Laxmi Ghimire dance ( 2016)
Dancer, choreographer, teacher.
Laxmi Ghimire was trained at the illustrious Kalakshetra Institute in Chennai (Madras). After 5 years of full-time studies, followed by years of daily personal practice, she performs in India and Nepal, and now in Europe. She also teaches children at SAYM, the Education Center for Underprivileged Children where she has been living since the age of 4, near Kathmandu, as well as in other schools in the capital.
In addition, she gives workshops for adults, in Nepal, and now in France and Belgium, during which she shares her knowledge with all those who wish to become familiar with this dance but also with its form ‘Natya Yoga’, a sacred tradition of meditation.
Inspired by Nathya yoga and Bharatanatyam dance, this ritualized form of ‘yoga in movement’ gives access to one’s own inner space in a very original and healthy way (balancing, relaxing, aesthetic…). A bit like an ‘Indian Tai Chi’. Laxmi will teach a series of movements that are easy to reproduce at home for, for example, a good morning workout… Open to all, children and adults, dancers as well as simple amateurs, men and women.