Review: MALAVIKA SARUKKAI: ANUBANDH – CONNECTEDNESS at The Kennedy Center

Dance is one of the universal mediums that can transcend time, culture, and space – it exists in every human society, and serves as both an exploration, an escape, and a connection to others. Truly great dance reaches across walls and distance, and can impress upon our souls, even if the words or music are unfamiliar to us. This understanding is why the Kennedy Center’s Dance programming shines: the team understands that dance is a celebration of what it means to be human, and they seek to capture that in their latest production, Malavika Sarukkai: Anubandh – Connectedness.

Following the isolation and loneliness of the pandemic and the lingering impacts, choreographer and performer Malavika Sarukkai’s latest piece seeks to return to the foundations of our connections, known as the primordial relationships: with the sun and moon, and with the five elements – Prithvi – Earth; Apah – Water; Agni – Fire; Vayu – Wind; and Akasha – Space. Sarukkai’s exploration starts at the personal level and expands outward to the collective, and explores the concept of the life-breath, prana, that infuses everyone, everything, and what binds us.

Sarukkai’s performance draws on the relationships between nature and ourselves, how each element is part of and reflective of our experiences, incorporating pleasure, sorrow, war, isolation, and connection. Each movement is accompanied by a poem – written and performed in English by Sumantra Ghosal – in addition to commissioned composed music – courtesy of Easwar Ramakrishnan (Swarams), and Uday Bhawalkar and Eliz Caden (Dhrupad) – and chanting (recorded by Malola Kannan and Aditya Hridayam) – to reflect the levels of each element. The piece weaves dance, music, poetry, and vocals to create an otherworldly and intimate experience, eventually moving from isolated blocs to a flowing, connected performance.

Sarukkai is well-known for her choreography, which combines classical Bharatanatyam dance with modern stylings. Her movements incorporate traditional patterns and combinations with noticeable precision and emotionality, making for a compelling performance. The enhanced additions of Sai Shravanam’s (Resound India) music production and sound design as well as light design and technical direction from Niranjan Gokhale make for a fluid and engrossing production, though it did occasionally feel that the Kennedy Center’s Terrance Stage was a bit too large for the intimacy the piece evokes (particularly during the isolation-focused The Wall movement). Sarukkai’s costume – a traditional stitched sari over salwar pants with a pleated front piece and salangai (leather anklets lined with rows of bells) – is gorgeous work from Sandhya Raman, and enhanced her movements while beautifully reflecting Gokhale’s lighting, which was minimalistic, yet effective.

As someone new to this particular style of dance, I enjoyed Sarukkai’s performance, though I also noted it was slower and more lyrical than examples I found online, thanks to her infusion of modern dance elements to the traditional form. Though Bharatanatyam is often used for religious storytelling purposes, the particular application to this narrative was a nice universalized touch – one that helped build the connections central to the piece itself. The added elements of Ghosal’s poems and the carefully crafted music and chanting create an ethereal and somehow familiar feeling to the overall performance, and the audience, following applause for Sarukkai, Shravanam, and Gokhale’s bows, was notably quietly introspective as they departed the theater – an impressive feat that felt reflective of our own Anubandh.

Malavika Sarukkai: Anubandh – Connectedness plays at the Kennedy Center on November 10th and 11th. Performance run time is approximately 90 minutes with no intermission. Ticket information, as well as more details on the program and accessibility can be found on the Kennedy Center Click Here.

Photos of Malavika Sarukkai in Anubandh. Photo credit: Sudeep Bhattacharya.