SK’s theatre thoughts

Tonight I had a night of positive vibes, in two completely different forms. Shantala Shivalingappa and her four musicians spread elegance and joy in their performance of the Indian dance kuchipudi. It only lasted an hour but I could have easily sat for another hour and watched her hands. The strength and control are amazing, but what’s truly ethereal is the grace which accompanies her every move. Almost as if she’s floating underwater; all the rough edges smoothed out. Kuchipudi, like all Indian dance forms (or all the ones I’ve seen) focuses outward – on the audience, the subject of the narration, the universe. She looks audience members in the eye, and projects the serenity and joy that characterize the dance as a form of spiritual observance. Because of the openness and outward projection of the dance, the moments where Shivalingappa turns within in a moment of reflection or prayer are even more poignant.

The musicians, providing the rhythm and story for the rhythmic and narrative dances, could form a show unto themselves, and do in the opening prayer song and in one piece played by the drummers, in which they exchanged rhythmic patterns and competed with complicated vocal “scat”. Amazing that with only five people on stage, no English and no set, still there was no end of things to listen to and look at. These tickets will be hard to get ahold of for the last two shows – try to get in there.

Following the dance I ran over to Theatre 99 to see The Reckoning, an improv group out of Chicago. They perform in a “Harold” format – my favorite structure for improv, and have amazing command of what is known of as group mind. It’s almost hard to believe that the work isn’t scripted, given how easily it flows and how well it all comes together. I laughed for the whole hour. As silly as it may seem, one thing that truly impressed me was, after almost an hour of playing multiple characters, when they picked up characters they’d created at the beginning, they instantly remembered what voice they’d used. Good improv isn’t just about being funny and creating scenes; it’s about keeping track of it all and pulling it all together at the end. This group does that brilliantly. They only have three more shows. Catch them.

What’s amazing is how positive the whole night was.  Such positive energy.  So far, for me, Spoleto and Piccolo are three for three.