Dance performance in India underscores Orchesis director?s talents

A last-minute change of venue to an atmosphere-charged open-air amphitheatre in the historic Indian city of Ahmedabad proved to be a blessing for Orchesis dance director Tamara Bliss and her fellow dancers when they performed choreographer Usha Gupta's Nari Nari Nari - My Love last month.

"When we first saw the stone-tiled stage we were not sure how this would work but when we came back in the evening and saw the transformation the workers had managed to achieve and the incredible backdrop of the Queen's Palace and other historical buildings it just looked so magical," says Bliss.

"What was also amazing was the audience, which was made up of not just ticket holders, but, also lots of locals who were able to enjoy the performance from outside the formal seating area on a beautiful December evening," says Bliss.

Bliss, an instructor in the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation at the U of A was one of four dancers to tour India in December 2008 with well-known Edmonton choreographer Usha Gupta.

Nari Nari Nari - My Love explores the four different kinds of love experienced by a woman throughout her life - happy, romantic, unconditional and meditative - and Gupta had asked Bliss to use her experiences as a yogi (yoga practitioner) to express meditative love. Gupta, a classical Indian dance guru blended traditional Kathak dancing with martial arts, yoga moves and classical modern dancing to interpret the different feelings of love.

"I really thought I was too old to dance in this piece but Usha was looking for an older dancer and convinced me to take part," says the youthful-looking Bliss.

Funding from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Canada Council and the Edmonton Arts Council enabled the dancers to travel to India where they performed in New Dehli, Bangalore as well as Mahatma Gandhi's hometown of Ahmedabad.

"It was wonderful to be able to visit Gandhi's ashram as part of the time in this city," says Bliss who also visited India in 2007 with her husband. Bliss also taught a Natiya Stem Dance workshop during her time in Bangalore.

As soon as she returned from her travels, Bliss went straight back into rehearsals for Orchesis Dance Group's annual Dance Motif being held on January 23 and 24 at the Myer Horowitz Theatre on campus. Now in its 44th year, the recital offers students and staff a chance to showcase their talents as performers and choreographers.

The one-hour show features a 20 minutes piece choreographed by David Flewelling from Montreal, thanks to a generous grant from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.

"We tell dancers to get out and experience dancing in other centres but that does not often happen so we have been working the last few years to bring choreographers with a connection to Edmonton who are now working somewhere else to come and share their talents," says Bliss.

"The Dance Motif is a great performance opportunity for emerging dancers and choreographers to show off their work," says Bliss. The 89 performers have been rehearsing weekly since September.

The Orchesis Dance Group is the second oldest student organisation on campus and provides training in modern and jazz dance techniques. Tickets for the dance performance are $10 in advance and $12 at the door.