Odissi twist to Greek tales

Crossing Oceans, a unique dance musical, interprets Australian aboriginal, Japanese and Greek folklore through Indian dance forms

This Friday, witness a unique dance musical where city-based Odissi exponent Daksha Mashruwala and Singapore-based Contemporary dancer Raka Maitra will come together to interpret stories from Australian aboriginal, Greek, and Japanese cultures through Odissi, Chhau and Contemporary dance. Titled Crossing Oceans, the hour-long dance musical will see performances by Maitra and the students of Mashruwala’s dance school, Kaishiki, at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA).

(From left) Raka Maitra and Daksha Mashruwala have choreographed the dance musical, Crossing Oceans

“As Classical dancers, we are often accused of being stuck with our own (Indian) mythological stories and interpretations in dance. Although I find them interesting, I decided to extend the realm to world mythologies this time,” informs Mashruwala.
From the tenth-century Japanese folktale of the Moon Princess to the story of Orion from Greek mythology, the dancers will interpret different stories of nature and life through their performance. “We tried to find stories that were relevant to our ideas of life, exciting and, of course, the ones that could be interpreted through dance movements,” she says.

According to Mashruwala, the Greek folklore presents a canvas with many characters and different emotions. “The Japanese culture is subtle and refined whereas I felt that the Australian aboriginal culture was closest to the nature,” she observes, adding that the Australian aboriginal stories were the most difficult to choreograph.

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