Anjal Chande in a striking dance pose -Pic Mark Ness
CHICAGO: In a crowded, dark theater of Chicago Cultural Center in Downtown Chicago, Anjal Chande recently presented an hour-long performance, comprising four pieces that blended her mastery of the South-Asian classical dance form Bharatanatyam and her contemporary artistic sensibilities.
This presentation was part of the World Music Festival Chicago 2010 – India Calling, Although a dancer by training, Anjal showcased her art through a variety of media.
Her spoken word, set to music composed by famed Sitarist Gaurav Mazumdar, Hindustani classical singer Gaurav Venkteswar, and member of the collegiate Chai-Town a cappella group, Arjun Venkataswamy, all provided backdrops to Anjal’s dance that pulled the audience into the performance. Anjal brought the audience in closer with the use of her face, hands and feet.
The emotive expressions on her face, the meaningful use of her hands and the rhythmic cadence of her feet all worked together to accent the frame of a dancer who commanded not only the stage she performed on but the attention and emotions of her audience.
Anjal explored ideas of thought, creativity, darkness, happiness and human connection with her original pieces. Tapping into the urban lifestyle and its ephemeral nature, she developed one of her pieces around distractions in the mind and the inevitable frustrations that grow out of constant yet shallow contact.
In “Darkness,” Anjal proposed that happiness actually lives in darkness and that our imagination is not something to be feared, but something to be coveted. In her final piece, she released her larger-than-life-self onto the stage, darting to and fro while having a delightful conversation with the music she danced to.
Throughout her performance, Anjal presented her art with confidence and her real self shined on stage. She embodied, almost literally, her convictions and painted them in an aesthetic that was irresistible for the audience.
Samarth Bhaskar
