Theatre & Dance: Special Series; Daksha Seth

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Dec 6, 1999

SPECIAL SERIES

Daksha Seth, 35
Dancer

REBEL YELL
You know Daksha Seth is a rebel. But do you know why? "When I did the same abhinaya taught to me by my gurus, I looked foolish. I didn't emotionally, spiritually and intellectually agree with it."

So, she deviated from the trodden path, feeding from Kathak, Mayurbhanj chhau and Kalaripayattu. "Dance is like a river," she says. "It has to flow and each student has to put his own prana into it."

Sometimes that prana shocks; critics pan her sinuous, sexual choreography as gimmickry. Newer, younger audiences have preferred to call it guts with creativity. She has made her mark with vibrant choreographic pieces like Sarpagati, Yagna, and In Search of My Tongue. In these urban encounters, she simply explodes. Then she cools off, shuts herself off for three months in a small village near Thiruvananthapuram, exploring movement and form. Then the cycle begins, for the fire next time.

-S. Sahaya Ranjit

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