Dance Drama

Dozens of tomatoes scattered across the wooden floor form an allegory for the lake while the languid and graceful pirouettes of ballet performers in their tutus are replaced by edgy moves. The young Israeli choreographer Idan Cohen’s tribute to the classical 19th century dance ballet Swan Lake,set to Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s tunes,is more of an “exploration of the changes in the human body and offering another perspective to beauty and romance,” he says.

The ballet which premiered in June 2009 at the Silesian Dance Theatre in Bytom,Poland,has been staged across several venues in Europe and the US. It will now be premiering in Delhi tomorrow with three female dancers at the India Habitat Centre. “We have shunned the classical form of the ballet to adopt a more contemporary shortened version of the performance,” explains Sharon Vazanna,one of the performers,who has worked with Cohen for six years as part of the Kibbutz Dance Company in Israel.

The performance does not follow a linear narration,so there are no defined characters portraying Prince Siegfried,Princess Odette and the sorcerer. In the one-hour and 15 minute performance,each dancer performs all the roles. The movement trajectory involves graceful ballet moves and contemporary dance steps. “We arrived at the dance form through the various tasks Idan gave us. He improvised on them and gave them rhythm,” adds Vazzana.Swan Lake will be performed today. Entry is free. Contact: 30414566