Sannidhi: A solo evening by Aparna Ramaswamy

“No sooner had [Aparna Ramaswamy] begun, than every moment seemed precise, specific, focused. From those sharply defined beginnings arose complexities both rapturous and profound.” (The New York Times)

“Quickly she demonstrates just how many parts of the body are used in bharatanatyam, the volumetric fullness with which a single dancer can become thrillingly three-dimensional, and the wide supply of rhythms and dynamic contrasts that enrich this form.

Every change of focus registers keenly. The swaying pliancy of the torso becomes deeply sensuous. A simple, bouncing walk toward the audience and back is delivered with a subtlety that made it far from simple in its effect. Gestures ranging from small to large indicate the growth of the river, and their fluency its current.

In this solo about the Ganges, Ms. Ramaswamy seems now to embody the river, now to indicate it, now to worship it; and the forms of expression alternated between detailed mime gestures to the kinds of pure dance that seem as abstract and as impersonal as a human being can ever achieve. The dancer seems continually to move between different kinds of being and of thought, and the Western observer is aware of many layers of mystery. Ms. Ramaswamy is an enchantingly beautiful dancer…some of the most transporting instances are ones of near-stillness, when the dancer seems to be inhaling the moment as if it were incense.”(Alastair Macaulay, The New York Times)