{"id":5754,"date":"2013-04-17T10:45:40","date_gmt":"2013-04-17T17:45:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=5754"},"modified":"2013-04-17T10:45:57","modified_gmt":"2013-04-17T17:45:57","slug":"shivalingappa-namasya-dance-performance-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/shivalingappa-namasya-dance-performance-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Shivalingappa, Namasya — Dance Performance Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shantala Shivalingappa<\/strong><\/p>\n

Namasya<\/em><\/strong> — Dance Performance<\/p>\n

Herbst Theater, San Francisco<\/p>\n

April 16, 2013<\/p>\n

\n

I didn’t care for this.\u00a0 This was a solo performance of Indian dance in the Kuchipudi style, to Indian music.\u00a0 The music was better than the dancing.\u00a0 I couldn’t relate to it.\u00a0 I found it wearisome and dull.\u00a0 It lacked engagement.\u00a0 It was solipsistic.\u00a0 Some of it reminded me of those pantomime games where one person acts out a scenario and the rest of the group tries to guess what it is.\u00a0 It was like she had something in her head, but I couldn’t seem to connect with what it was.<\/p>\n

She started out on her back toward the rear of the stage making painfully slow movements as if she were getting up in the morning very, very slowly — a decidedly downbeat way to start.\u00a0 I often get up like that myself first thing in the morning, but it is not interesting to watch, and I would never have the temerity to perform it on stage and expect people to be interested in it.<\/p>\n

Most of this performance was slow and static, decidedly undramatic and even disengaged.\u00a0 For a couple of segments she left the stage allowing screens came down and a video of her dancing in costume appeared on the screen.\u00a0 It was a video I would never watch were it to be given to me.\u00a0 It was totally uninteresting.\u00a0 I couldn’t understand why this was presented in a video.\u00a0 Was she too lazy to just go out there and do it herself?\u00a0 I think it emphasized her unwillingness to make full contact with the audience, which seemed to be a theme of this performance.<\/p>\n

A further segment underlined this.\u00a0 It was done mostly on her knees with her back to the audience making movements with her arms and torso.\u00a0 When her back was not to the audience, she hid her face in her arms.\u00a0 It was as if she were avoiding making contact with the audience, refusing to look at them.\u00a0 I got the same feeling from it that I have had sometimes pursuing a woman I am interested in and she is making no response.\u00a0 Not a negative response, but no<\/em> response.\u00a0 As if her back is to me and she is ignoring me, totally stonewalling, not willing to be engaged or communicative in any way whatsoever.\u00a0\u00a0 Not exactly the way for a woman to get a good review from me, and that was how I felt during much of this performance.<\/p>\n

I made up my mind as I was sitting there not to even review this show.\u00a0 I don’t like to write this kind of a review.\u00a0 I like young women and I try to encourage them, but I started getting annoyed as it dragged on.\u00a0 This woman is unprepared to be doing this kind of a performance, and San Francisco Performances did not do her a favor presenting her in a venue for which she is not artistically ready. Someone has to tell her. \u00a0A reviewer also has a responsibility to inform the public what they are in for when they take time and spend money to attend a performance.\u00a0 Why should I keep silent to protect a poor performer who is out there soliciting paying audiences?<\/p>\n

When you go out on a stage and do a solo performance: an hour or more of nothing but you<\/em><\/strong>, it has to be strong, and you have to have an imposing presence that can connect with the audience and sustain their attention.\u00a0 People are paying money and spending their time to view this.\u00a0 It has to have something to offer, something to engage them, stimulate them, connect with them on some level or other.\u00a0 You can’t just bore them to death and expect them to like it.\u00a0 You take a big risk when you do a show like this as a solo performer.\u00a0 If people don’t like it, it all comes down on you.\u00a0 You’re not part of a group that shares responsibility and offers support.\u00a0 Shivalingappa does not have the kind of presence and artistic strength necessary to pull this off.\u00a0 This performance was not substantial.\u00a0 It was tedious.\u00a0 She is way out of her league.\u00a0 She should be dancing in a troupe learning her craft.<\/p>\n

Maybe I am spoiled.\u00a0 I just saw the San Francisco Ballet the other night and those dancers are first rate.\u00a0 Every single one of them is masterful with a commanding presence that you can feel all the way up to the top of the balcony.\u00a0 Shivalingappa is not anywhere near that caliber and certainly not of a stature to be doing a solo show on her own.\u00a0 But it was mercifully short.\u00a0 That was the best part.\u00a0 Some serious rethinking need to be done with this one.\u00a0 I’m sorry, but I cannot recommend this.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shantala Shivalingappa Namasya — Dance Performance Herbst Theater, San Francisco April 16, 2013 I didn’t care for this.\u00a0 This was a solo performance of Indian dance in the Kuchipudi style,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[837],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5754","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-joe-cillo"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"