Bhairava
Reviewed by Socks Whitmore
Dance Camera West Festival
Through January 12
This review is part of the Z. Clark Branson/Stage Raw/Grow@TheWallis Mentorship Program for Young Journalists
Bhairava, Experimental Short, Mouvement Perpetuel, Canada
Written and directed by Marlene Millar and Philip Szporer of the Canadian production company Mouvement Perpétuel, Bhairava contains almost 12 straight minutes of focused choreography. The film is described by its dancer-choreographer Shantala Shivalingappa as “[evoking] facets of Shiva, the Lord of Dance, as both the destructor of evil and the guardian of time.”
The first 45 seconds of the film immerse us in the terrain inside and around a firelit cave. As the film progresses, the dance is sequentially placed against backdrops of the inside of a temple ruin, an open plain, a rocky plateau, and finally outside a temple ruin. The sun also rises, peaks, and sets over the course of the film. It is clear from the amount of space and time given to views of the scenery that the shooting location, the ancient site of Hampi, India, is significant and personal to the filmmakers. The use of a preserved ruin and the progression of time also points back to Bhairava’s ‘guardianship of time’. The filmmakers take advantage of the medium, the dancer transcending live dance possibilities by maintaining her position while the scenery changes.
For those in the audience unfamiliar with the deities of Hinduism, the clear deliberation and precision of Shantala’s movements may lack context, but Bhairava’s calm and stability is communicated through the dancer’s unwavering balance, her attention to rhythm, and her ability to move both quickly and very slowly with the same decisiveness. The choreography includes both precise symbolic gestures (visually akin to American Sign Language) and more abstract body language, which may go over the heads of many in the audience and leave them with little understanding of the narrative. Either way, the piece is visually exciting.
Interestingly, the dancer’s face is obscured for the first five minutes of the piece; the bold move to abstract her subverts expectations and brings the piece’s focus to the divinity of the deity she channels, but is also a missed opportunity to view more of the striking intense gaze she maintains throughout the rest of the film. Similarly, the shot of the musicians on the cliffside is unexpected and refreshing, but their absence from the rest of the film is another missed opportunity. However, inspiration shines in several moments: the simple yet impressively agile flicks and twists of Shantala’s wrist in perfect sync with the bouncing percussion, the matching of the score’s sleigh bell-like chimes with her leaps and turns, and the slow lowering of her hands that pairs so well with her previous deliberate motions. In these moments, it is nearly impossible to tell if the footage has been artificially slowed. The score pairs remarkably well with the visuals, and it must be acknowledged that the vocals of Ramesh Jetty show notable stamina and a limber tongue. All in all, this piece is thoughtfully crafted and its personal significance resonates.
DANCE CAMERA WEST FESTIVAL at REDCAT, 631 W. Second St., Downtown; and AUTOMATA, 504 Chung King Ct., Chinatown; Thurs.-Sun., screening times vary; through Jan. 12th. Festival Schedule here. Running time: 13:45
