1999: In Her Own Flame. Dance theatre directed by Niki Shepherd

In Her Own Flame.  Dance theatre directed by Niki Shepherd.  Festival of Contemporary Arts, at the Choreographic Centre, Gorman House October 1-3, 1999.

    In the same way that World Music draws on traditional folk music forms from many cultures and has developed a new identity, Niki Shepherd with dancer Jennie White and musicians Cris Clucas and Andrew Purdam, narrate an ancient Greek myth in the language of classical Indian dance - and in the process have begun to create a new exciting form of dance theatre - World Dance, perhaps.

    The story of the conception and birth of Dionysos, the Greek god of theatre and intoxication, told through the experiences of his mortal mother Semele in her relationship with the god Zeus and his wife Hera, is about ecstasy and its tragic consequences. 

Hera persuades Semele, already pregnant from her first encounter with Zeus in human form, to encourage him to make love in his divine form.  Hera knows this will destroy Semele - but the god Hermes rescues the unborn Dionysos.  Later Dionysos leads his mother out of Hades to become goddess of ecstatic rage, akin to the Indian goddess Kali.

Working out of her Indian Kuchipudi dance training, originally with Padma Menon and now with Anandavalli Sivanathan, Shepherd has collaborated with Jennie White (trained by Mrs Nandana Chellapah in Bharata Natyam style, and also now with Anandavalli) in exploring the Greek myth from the perspective of Siva, the Indian god of dance and ecstatic experience.  The live music grew in concert with the choreography: Andrew Purdam's percussion and especially the voice of Cris Clucas are quite extraordinary.  The result is a "modern dance" creation of women's experience of love, betrayal, survival and finding a new internal strength.

Each performer is so secure in their newly created form that much of the work is improvised rather than strictly notated, giving the work a living tension which draws the audience into the experience.  This is a product of time and space made available by the Choreographic Centre, directed by Mark Gordon, and proof of the value of this resource to Canberra.


©Frank McKone, Canberra