KARACHI : With a bunch of flexible dancers garbed in minimal however spectacular rehearsal gear, the Sri Lankan dance troop Natanda meted its message out loud: Each contact – good or dangerous – leaves an affect which might both be felt for a second or retained for eternity.
On its third night time, the Worldwide Theatre Competition going down at NAPA hosted the Colombo-based Natanda because it exhibited a particular fusion of conventional Kandyan with yoga and ballet and in addition challenged its dancers to specific their particular person personalities and our bodies in a up to date efficiency orbiting across the theme of ‘touch.’ 
The 70-minute- lengthy piece, a visible deal with, was a play of silhouettes and dramatic lighting stimulating a brand new emotion each time. Flexing like Kaleidoscope, in splinters of scorching pink and black, the hoofers, with outlined strikes, communicated with the viewers on a distinct degree.
Rejuvenating the metaphorical energy of dance, the act propelled the viewers to sense, really feel and make private interpretations because the efficiency revealed the ache of abusive contact, vitality of an inter-personal contact and luxury of a caring contact.
Reflecting upon cultural facets of contact – that provided attention-grabbing dynamics to the concept execution total — the act ‘touched upon’ the emotional imprint of abusive, conducive and reciprocal contact because it being the language of communication between people.
Upholding to a different stigma that’s usually brushed beneath the carpet, Natanda’s up to date artwork additionally units forth the plight of untouchables, the oppressed communities which can be usually subdued due to their gender, incapacity, poverty or caste. The play posits a query loud and clear: We don’t contact others we really feel alienated from – is that this judgment a query of particular person selection or a tackle society?
Concurrently, the play make clear contact deprivation that arises when somebody wants care however stays uncared for, instigating what we name harassment or abusive contact.
Thematically, the act was divided into two segments. The primary half highlighted the idea of contact deprivation during which dancers offered solo dances and duets whereas depicting the narrative of individuals bonded in relationships. Nonetheless, the second half unfolded the counter argument: the fitting to say no to being touched, representing misogyny and the oppression on girls.
Whereas speaking to The Specific Tribune, the brains behind the play, Kapila Palihawadana – who can also be the director and choreographer of the challenge – revealed how he obtained impressed when he realised certainly one of his college students give up dance courses after she was inappropriately touched in a public bus on her manner again residence. “I could not see her mentally disturbed to a level where she was prepared to quit something that she was born to do,” he mentioned.
The high-pitched flute, the beat of the drums and fixed ticking of the clock cleverly used within the background rating didn’t solely set the moods all through the act but in addition symbolised anguish, belief, suspense and passing time that’s taking us all in the direction of an finish.
Whereas defying all odds, the play – setting an unimaginable examples of bodily steadiness and its simple significance in dance and theatre – is crafted to speak with a common viewers.
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