Dance Routes
All Dance Routes’ choreographic work has been rooted in the Odissi tradition. Mastering its abstract movements to rhythm and melody, and embodying its narrative passages and archetypes using the technique of abhinaya constitutes a potent path to discovering the essence of the self. Over the years, however, working with the Dance Routes repertory group as its sole Artistic Director, its parameters were stretched in the usage of sound, language, movement and subject matter, to integrate my simultaneous involvement in mantras and sadhana from the yogic and tantric traditions.
My dancers at this time were primarily Gotipuas who wanted to learn Odissi and earn their livelihoods dancing as adults. They brought their wonderful physical skills to our studio, and amalgamating their acrobatic skills with my own movement vocabulary and understanding of yoga became our mutual objective.
The common denominator in my embodied experience of dance, yoga and tantric rituals has been the feeling-sensation of the spinal cord as a hollow flute that connects Sky with Earth, and Awareness with the physical body. In Odissi, I have experienced movements as extending this central axis into space through virtual symmetric lines drawn by the limbs, which are further extended into space through the gaze. Intricate footwork generates ‘acoustic space’ and power in the lower spine, which is then channelled through the torso as rhythmic patterns and expressive emotions. These ideas were shared with the Gotipuas and became the basis of our studio explorations using the movement templates they were bringing with them.
Such an approach to dance technique serves to ‘magnetise’ the spinal cord and charge the kinesphere, where hand gestures become mudras to fine tune the flow of energy from the axis through the limbs. Movement sequences draw clear, virtual yantras in space, collapsing the divide between internal and external space and shifting the identification of the self from body to energy, and energy to Awareness. Abiding as Awareness, as both Advaita and Non-dual Tantra teach us, is actually abiding as the witness self, the God-principle or deity-principle within ourselves. This delicious, ephemeral state of being has been the reason I danced, and remains the reason I continue to dance and teach Odissi.
Background
After six years of initial training with Guru SN Jena in New Delhi, Rekha joined Madhavi Mudgal’s dance company as a student in 1985 and continued to train daily in Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra’s lineage. She was among the first apprentice-performers of the company and participated in Madhavi Mudgal’s early group choreographic compositions and performances over eight years. It was also the start of teaching other students.
In 1995 she joined the Laban Centre for Movement and Dance in London for a PhD in Dance Studies, and began revisiting several iconic pieces from Odissi’s repertoire as part of Choreological Studies, recreating these with musical variations to recorded soundtracks by Michael Weston. Battu, the mangalacharans Namami Vighnaraj and Pada Vande Gananath, were the first such explorations. Mukhaari pallavi and the Odia abhinaya Patha Chadi De were created as choreography commissions by Guru Trinath Maharana on Rekha, providing a valuable opportunity for her to experiment with articulating Odissi’s movements to new rhythms and melodies under his watchful eyes.
Subsequently, several solo works using texts in English, Sanskrit and Braj Bhasha were choreographed by Rekha with traditional musicians in Odisha and New Delhi, to musical arrangements by Michael Weston, which became part of the Dance Routes’ repertoire.
Mukhaari
An exploration of rhythmic patterns and melody, based on the traditional choreographic form of the Pallavi, created on Rekha by Guru Trinath Maharana.
Choreographic direction: Guru Trinath Maharana
Music: Rama Rao & Guru Trinath Maharana
Musical arrangement: Michael Weston
Duration: 15 minutes approx.
Moksha
Moksha traditionally performed as a closing piece to an Odissi recital, centres the energies of the body through its symmetric sequences of both percussion and movement. This version was video filmed at Jaipur Mandir, Brindavan, UP, by Robyn Beeche and Michael Duffy.
Original Choreography: Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra
Music: Traditional, recording by Dance Routes
Video editing: Michael Weston
Duration: 7 minutes approx.
Shyama
The love of Radha for Krishna, a popular theme in the Indian arts, symbolises the desire of the individual soul for God, and is sung here in the thumri style.
Based on a poem by the 16th century mystic poet Surdas, it describes the yearning experienced by Radha for the missing Shyama/Krishna.
The piece was video filmed in the grove and ghat beside Jai Singh Ghera, Brindavan, UP, by Robyn Beeche and Michael Duffy.
Choreography: Rekha Tandon
Music: Pandit Hari Charan Varma
Musical arrangement and Video editing: Michael Weston
Duration: 7 minutes approx.
Gitanjali
The Gitanjali is a collection of poems by Rabindranath Tagore expressing the intimate relationship between himself and God, for which he won the Nobel Prize for Literature. The verses were originally composed in Bengali and subsequently translated into English by the poet himself.
This piece interprets a selection of verses using the traditional techniques of abhinaya to spoken text; the first such exploration by Rekha done in 1996.
Choreography: Rekha Tandon
Narration: Michael Weston
Camera Direction: Papa Rao
Duration: 8 minutes approx.
Hymn to the Goddess
A danced conversation with the Divine Mother as Saraswati, embodiment of wisdom and kundalini energy based on text from ‘Hymns to the Goddess’, translated from Sanskrit into English by Arthur and Ellen Avalon. The prayer was deeply loved by Guru Subramanium, founder of Skanda Vale, Wales, UK and remains a part of Devi worship in its temple services today.
Choreography: Rekha Tandon
Narration, Musical arrangement and Videography: Michael Weston
Duration: 7 minutes approx.
Phenomenal Woman
Phenomenal Woman is a cheeky poem by Maya Angelou that celebrates a woman’s spirituality through a description of the sensual female body.
Choreography and Narration: Rekha Tandon
Piano: Andrew Crawford
Duration: 4 minutes approx.
Battu
Dance Routes version of Battu began as a musical demonstration by percussion artiste Kalindi Parida who played both the pakhawaj and the khol drums to its traditional pneumonic patterns.
The soundtrack was created without a melodic component, striping both the traditional music and choreography to its barest structure, and later incorporating Odissi movement with Gotipua acrobatics.
Original choreography: Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra
Adapted by: Rekha Tandon
Music: Traditional
Musical arrangement: Michael Weston
Duration: 8 minutes
Yantra
Yantra took form as a response to a three-day Chandi Path performed by Swami Satyananda Saraswati at the Bihar School of Yoga, Munger, Bihar, where the atmosphere reverberated with tantric beej mantras, or seed syllables, used in Devi worship from sunrise to sunset for three days. Its soundtrack was created with these beej mantras and embodied through movement patterns measuring space, experienced as ‘yoga-dance’.
While the piece was initially created and performed as a solo, it evolved into a trio piece in two iterations, and subsequently as a performance with seven dancers.
Choreography: Rekha Tandon
Music: Michael Weston
Duration: 14 minutes approx.
Conversations
Traditional melodic phrases and movement patterns from the Odissi pallavi in Raag Bilahari choreographed by Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, are used to colour readings from Rabindranath Tagore’s Gitanjali, describing an intimate conversation between the soul and its beloved.
Choreographic adaptation: Rekha Tandon
Music: Bhuvaneshwar Misra
Musical arrangement: Michael Weston
Duration: 10 minutes
Kuru Yadu Nandana
Based on the well-known and much loved ashtapadi from the Gitagovinda choreographed by Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, the music for this version was recomposed by Shiba Prasad Rath and the movement material rearranged accordingly.
Choreographic adaptation: Rekha Tandon
Musical composition and Voice: Shiba Prasad Rath
Duration: 9.30 minutes
Patha Chadi De
Based on a traditional Odia poem by Gopalakrushna Pattanayaka, the piece describes a playful episode in the eternal relationship between Radha and Krishna. Radha stages a chance encounter with Krishna in the privacy of the forest, berates him for not heeding her, chides him for his dalliance with other milkmaids, and promises a secret rendezvous where she will ‘give him everything’.
This was a commissioned solo for Rekha, performed accompanied with pattachitra line drawings by Rabindra Nath Sahu.
Choreography: Guru Trinath Maharana
Adapted by: Rekha Tandon
Music: Traditional
Musical arrangement: Michael Weston
Duration: 12 minutes approx.
Background
In 2005 the Dance Routes Repertory Group with Gotipuas was formed in response to an invitation by the Indian Council of Cultural Relations, New Delhi, to take the performance ‘Dhara’, conceived and directed by Rekha with Gotipua dancers, to venues in Berlin and UK. ‘Dhara’ was a mixed media performance supported by the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) for a performance project that combined pattachitra painting and Gotipua dance in Raghurajpur, Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra’s home village near Puri in Odisha.
Subsequently over the years, dancers from surrounding villages joined as well and ‘Yatra’, another full-length production, as well as several short commissions were created. The repertory group accompanied Rekha in Dance Routes’ group performances integrating Odissi and Gotipua dance for the next ten years.
So Ham
So Ham is a meditative exploration of acrobatic movements prevalent in the Gotipua tradition tracing its origins to hatha yoga. It is both an invocation to latent energy in the body and a physical preparation for dance. The sound track is based on traditional chants used to accompany yoga practices and meditations.
Choreography: Rekha Tandon
Music: Michael Weston
Duration: 15 minutes approx.
Simha Vahini
This is a visitation by multi-armed Devi Durga wearing a traditional mask, to the accompaniment of both folk and classical instruments. The piece builds on sahiyatra processional movements and Gotipua storytelling to describe Her epic slaying of powerful demons that threaten the peace of the world.
Artistic direction: Rekha Tandon
Music: Traditional
Music arrangement: Michael Weston
Duration: 8 minutes
Jagannath Swami
The piece praises Lord Jagannath as He steps out of His Temple Palace in Puri on the annual chariot festival. Based on verses by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, it states that Lord Jagannath is Krishna the Divine Lover and Vishnu the savior of all beings. Originally created as a solo by Guru Smt. Madhavi Mudgal.
Choreographic adaptation: Rekha Tandon
Music: Traditional
Music arrangement: Michael Weston
Duration: 9.30 minutes
Dasavatar
The ten incarnations of Vishnu are presented as a conversation between four Gotipua dancers vying to describe the glorious feats of the Lord. The text is from the 12th-century Gita Govinda by Jayadev, with movement drawn from Gotipua and Odissi repertoires.
Artistic direction: Rekha Tandon
Music: Traditional
Musical arrangement: Michael Weston
Duration: 14 minutes approx.
Batu
Dance Routes’ version of Battu began as a musical demonstration by percussion artiste Kalindi Parida. The soundtrack, stripped of melody, was rebuilt to incorporate Odissi movement and Gotipua acrobatics.
Original choreography: Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra
Adapted by: Rekha Tandon
Music: Traditional
Musical arrangement: Michael Weston
Duration: 8 minutes
Yantra (Trio)
Yantra evolved from a solo exploration into a group work focusing on movement as meditation. Its iterations expanded from a trio to a six-dancer version commissioned for the Asian Heritage Foundation’s Bee Pollinator Festival. The choreography visualized energy lines and hexagonal honeycomb patterns symbolizing Devi.
Choreography: Rekha Tandon
Music: Michael Weston
Duration: 14 minutes approx.
Namami Vighnaraja
An invocation to Lord Ganesh in Odissi, originally choreographed by Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra and adapted to include a masked sahiyatra dancer from the repertory company.
Artistic direction: Rekha Tandon
Music: Traditional, adapted by Michael Weston
Duration: 8.50 minutes
Ahe Nila Saila
A much-loved Odissi and Gotipua piece reinterpreted as a dance drama featuring pattachitra line drawings by Rabindranath Sahu as back projections.
Artistic direction: Rekha Tandon
Music: Traditional
Musical arrangement: Michael Weston
Duration: 8.30 minutes
Anganyasa
This piece plays on the five elements (panchamahabhoothas) as they dissolve one into another in the worship of Shiva. Commissioned by the Asian Heritage Foundation, it featured 11 Gotipua dancers and a contemporary soundtrack blending traditional instruments with synthesized sounds.
Choreography: Rekha Tandon
Music: Michael Weston
Duration: 15 minutes
Namasthe Pundarikaksha
A danced meditation on the spark of Awareness within, conceived as Vishnu. This piece merged Gotipua and Auroville-trained dancers, blending mantra and movement in a meditative invocation.
Choreography: Rekha Tandon
Music: Michael Weston
Duration: 10 minutes approx.
Invocations & Rasatva
Two full-length performances comprising selected choreography drawn from the Odissi repertoire, presented by the Auroville amateur group under Rekha’s artistic direction.
Artistic direction: Rekha Tandon
Music: Traditional
Musical arrangements: Michael Weston
Duration: One hour each
Michal Weston
Co-founder of Dance Routes, Michael Weston has created the music and soundscapes for all Dance Routes’ productions since its inception in 1997, in collaboration with Odissi musicians. He has also been Dance Routes’ primary recordist, archivist and administrator.
Michael began his professional life in music in London in the 1980s, playing as a band member of The Lilac Times and subsequently writing music for film and television till his move to India. During his thirteen years of living in Odisha, he was deeply involved with documenting tribal music and their way of life, and supporting their arts and crafts. Skandavan, Dance Routes’ permanent studio-residence near Auroville established in 2013 was named after Skanda Vale, The Community of the Many Names of God, S. Wales UK, where Michael had been closely associated for many decades. He has authored four books on the history of this monastery and its founder, his Guru, Shri Subramanium.
Dance Films
Caryatid Rests
A poem in light, sound and movement
An old palace holds a young Indian princess captive
in a forgotten part of its history.
Shafts of light throw shadows into its emptiness.
Her spirit is stirred by the whispers and
reflections contained in its walls.
She hears its music and comes to life,
dancing in its memory filled space.
Dancer: Rekha Tandon
Music: Michael Weston
Cameras: Nick Fry, Michael Weston
Duration: 5.45 minutes
Produced and Directed by Dance Routes
Dance Videos
Gitanjali
3 verses from Rabindranath Tagore’s
Nobel Prize winning collection of song offerings ‘Gitanjali’,
performed on stage at the British Council Theatre, New Delhi.
The verses were originally composed in Bengali,
but were translated into English by the poet himself.
Dancer: Rekha Tandon
Narration: Michael Weston
Videography: Michael Weston
Director: Papa Rao
Duration: 7.46 minutes
Produced and Edited by Dance Routes
Shyama
‘Shyama’ was written by a 16th century mystic poet called Surdas.
It describes a state of yearning experienced by the young Radha for the beautiful Shyama, or Krishna. The love of Radha for Krishna, a popular theme in the Indian arts, symbolises the desire of the individual soul for God. The video was shot on location in the wooded groves of Brindavan, where Krishna spent his youth.
Dancer: Rekha Tandon
Music: Pandit Hari Verma
Musical arrangement: Michael Weston
Videography: Michael Duffy & Robyn Beeche
Video director: Michael Duffy
Video editor: Michael Weston
Cover photography: Henry Stein (Cover)
End Credits Photography: Robyn Beeche
Duration: 7.07 minutes
Produced by Dance Routes
Moksha
Moksha (lit: liberation) is a piece of pure dance, or nritta, set to pneumonic patterns conforming to a 4-beat cycle, and forms a traditional concluding item of the classical Odissi recital.
The video was shot on location in the Jaipur Mandir, Brindavan, UP, India
Dancer: Rekha Tandon
Original Choreography: Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra
Music: Traditional
Musical arrangement: Michael Weston
Videography: Michael Duffy, Robyn Beeche, Michael Weston
Photography (End credits): Robyn Beeche
Duration: 7.23 minutes
Produced by Dance Routes
Hymn to the Goddess
‘Hymn to the Goddess’ is a powerful invocation to the Goddess of Wisdom as latent energy within the body. It interprets imagery describing Her as Devi Kundalini, translated from Sanskrit into English in Hymns to the Goddess, by Arthur and Ellen Avalon.
The choreography explores ideas about the body rooted in tantric spirituality, blending hatha yoga with Odissi’s vocabulary and the traditional technique of abhinaya, or story-telling.
The piece was filmed in the Parasurameswar Temple, Bhubaneswar, one of the earliest stone temples of Odisha (c. 650 AD) that heralded the beginning of the tantric movement in mainstream Shaivism.
Dance & Choreography: Rekha Tandon
Videography: Michael Weston
Music & Narration: Michael Weston
Cover Photograph: Robyn Beeche
Duration: 7.22 minutes
Produced and Edited by Dance Routes
Milestone Collaborations with Michael Weston:
