Reviews
Reviews
Review: Natya Dance’s world premiere ‘Inai’ asks, what if there were no differences, racial or otherwise?
“Inai—The Connection”
Dance Center at Columbia College Chicago
Nov 8-10, 2019
Dance Center at Columbia College Chicago
Nov 8-10, 2019
by Lauren Warnecke | CHICAGO TRIBUNE | NOV 09, 2019
What if we were only human? We had forgotten identity? No land, no borders, no religion, no race? What if the struggle is within us? A script by Sujatha Vijayaraghavan poses these and other questions, which weave a thread through various sections of “Inai: The Connection,” a new work by Chicago’s leading Bharatanatyam company, Natya Dance Theatre. Through dynamic dance, puppetry and original music representing a cluster of cultural influences, “Inai” explores tribalism and the real and perceived barriers that separate people by country, culture, race, class and religion.
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What if we were only human? We had forgotten identity? No land, no borders, no religion, no race? What if the struggle is within us? A script by Sujatha Vijayaraghavan poses these and other questions, which weave a thread through various sections of “Inai: The Connection,” a new work by Chicago’s leading Bharatanatyam company, Natya Dance Theatre. Through dynamic dance, puppetry and original music representing a cluster of cultural influences, “Inai” explores tribalism and the real and perceived barriers that separate people by country, culture, race, class and religion.
Cross-cultural connection and collaboration at the heart of Natya Dance Theatre’s newest work
“Inai—The Connection”
Dance Center at Columbia College Chicago
Nov 8-10, 2019
Dance Center at Columbia College Chicago
Nov 8-10, 2019
Nov 9, 2019 | By Jordan Kunkel
The evening began with a dark stage, only a small puppet visible. The puppet, who foreshadowed a larger-than-life puppet to come, appeared to speak as a woman’s voice radiated through the theater: “The struggle is not between ourselves, but within us.” In this moment of modern performance mixed with sage advice, the audience was transported into a story that although mystical in experience, brought to life the very-real division that plagues our world today while advocating for the kind of change that starts in our everyday lives.
Read more
The evening began with a dark stage, only a small puppet visible. The puppet, who foreshadowed a larger-than-life puppet to come, appeared to speak as a woman’s voice radiated through the theater: “The struggle is not between ourselves, but within us.” In this moment of modern performance mixed with sage advice, the audience was transported into a story that although mystical in experience, brought to life the very-real division that plagues our world today while advocating for the kind of change that starts in our everyday lives.