Dear Friends,
This video captures the intense involvement undertaken during Sutra’s early morning photoshoot after the dancers’ successful performance of Jaya Ram (Odissi) at the Khajuraho Dance Festival 2023.
(By the way, Jaya Ram will tour Melaka (10 March), Seremban (11 March), Temple of Fine Arts, TFA (23, 24 & 25 March), Taylor’s Uni (14 April) and S’pore (28 April))
One of Sutra’s bucket wish-lists, was to take photograph of our dancers against the backdrop of the Khajuraho temples just as we did at the Sun Temple of Konark and at The Bayon Temple of Angkor Thom (Cambodia). These ventures could pose to be challenging exercises as they had to be coordinated with the permission of archeological authorities.
Sutra dancers are fortunate to have an enviable portfolio of photographs at major temples and archeological sites of India such as Ellora, Brihadeshwara, Halebid, Hampi, (Lalitgiri, Udayagiri & Ratnagiri Buddhist archeological sites), Hirapur Yogini temples, among many others.
This time photographer S Magendran followed us to Khajuraho, a famous temple site, next to popularity among tourists, only to the Taj Mahal.
It is never an easy matter to get good photographs and the creativity associated with photography is different to that of dancing for a performance. The early morning light is also atmospheric as well as it is elusive and we need to do the shoot before the arrival of the tourists. Photographer S Magendran must know what he wants and there were intense discussions and experimentations by dancers and himself, before the photoshoot, which took two early morning sessions, both at the Western Temple complex and as well (the next morning) at the Parsvanath temple (Jain) complex, where some of the most exquisite sculptures are found.
The Khajuraho experience can be surreal! This was especially so – where the sensual enters into the realm of the sublime!
Ramli Ibrahim
https://www.facebook.com/sutrafoundation/videos/174766635301736