India Today – August 13, 2018

AUGUST 13, 2018 INDIA TODAY 79

DANCE

The Fire Within

Ashley Lobo’s Agni

talking about what inspired
him. “Globalisation is only in
business and not in terms of
human spirit. We are being
marginalised and insulated
across the world. There is an
ideology to that. It creates
something and also destroys.”
Commissioned by Yair
Vardi, director of the renowned
Suzanne Dellal Centre in Tel
Aviv in Israel, Lobo presented
the production in Israel in
July during a tour facilitated
by the Indian Council for
Cultural Relations and the High
Commissioner of India there.
Lobo’s style involves
western techniques of ballet
and jazz, which he employs to
devise works that offer “spiri­
tual philosophies of India and
Indian dance”. A practitioner
of the ‘Prana Paint and Flow’

technique, he emphasises

on breathing, meditation and

yoga to explore movements.

“Dance is like painting, you are

using your energy to paint the

air, floor and another body,” he

says. “Prana Paint sensitises

the dancers, makes them more

personal in their expression so

that one can feel their emotions

strongly.” It’s evident in Agni as

dancers never lose their focus

to maintain the intensity even

as they change costumes on

the sideline.

The biggest challenge that

Lobo faces apart from fund­

ing is to keep NIDT together.

“Dancers by nature are gyp­

sies,” he said. “They like to

constantly pick up information

from the universe.” Currently,

NIDT has 24 members of

which nine are part of the core

repertory. Lobo is aware that

what dancers essentially need

is an ‘audience’ to ‘share their

art’ and opportunities to ‘grow

and learn more about’ it. This,

he provides through overseas

tours and pushing them with

ideas and challenging chore­

ography. For a company that’s

just about three years old, NIDT

has already showcased its

work in the US, Israel, Germany

and Taiwan. This year it adds

Austria and Poland to its list.

So far, Lobo has created

two productions, Amara (2015)

and Agni (2016). This year he

plans to create another piece

and also perform Agni again

in India. “The interpretation of

the narrative is so much more

mature because the dancers

have evolved,” he says. n

—Suhani Singh

“IN DANCE,

YOU USE

YOUR

ENERGY TO

PAINT THE

AIR, FLOOR

AND

ANOTHER

BODY”