Until the Lions

Until the Lions
Akram Khan Company. OzAsia Festival. Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide. 22 & 23 Sept, 2017

Having seen The Mahabharata many years ago set in a quarry in Adelaide I was keen to see this new take on the Sanskrit masterpiece. I was not disappointed; Until the Lions is a visual feast for the eyes and an auditory feast for the ears.

At the age of 13, Akram Khan was cast in Peter Brook’s famous staging of The Mahabharata. Working with Brook was a turning point for the young Khan, and in Until the Lions he returns to this epic poem. The Mahabharata tells of the rivalry between two great families. In the original poem, the male heroes of the story occupy most of the work, but the women, while central to the story, are more sketchily drawn. Karthika Naïr sets out to address this imbalance in Until the Lions, a collection of poems about The Mahabharata’s female characters. It is these poems that forms the basis of Khan’s modern dance treasure.

The story concerns the warrior Bheeshma, who abducts the princess Amba and renders her unmarriageable. Amba vows vengeance, kills herself, and is reborn as Shikhand, who magically changes gender in order to kill Bheeshma in battle.

The visual impact upon entering the world of Until the Lions is amazing. Dominating the stage is a gigantic round raised dais representing the cross-section of a tree. A number of bamboo spears pierce the trunk, smoke hazes the area which is sliced with ominous downlights and a severed head rests on the stage.

Khan himself danced the original. In this production, Ching-Ling Chien, Joy Alpuerto Ritter and Rianto face the challenge of Khan’s demanding choreography. These dancers become warriors, spider like forms and predatory creatures. The dancing is strong, sexual and heroic. At times the dancers contort their bodies into seemingly impossible shapes, convulse and move in unnerving ways.

Costuming is simple but effective, a white cotton kurta and pants highlight Bheeshma’s strength, Alba’s almost Japanese robes with a touch of red highlight her purity and Shikhand’s costume is neither male nor female.

It is impossible to highlight any of the dancers; they are all mesmerising in their moments of stillness contrasted with frantic movement that would exhaust most dancers.

The atmospheric score for the piece by Vincenzo Lamagna underlines the action, with haunting vocals and whirlwind percussion. Unfortunately, like the dancers, the musicians are listed but not identified with their roles in the production so full credit must go to Sohini Alam, Joseph Ashwin, David Azurza and Yaron Engler. They are an integral part of the production and are perfectly synchronized with the dancers.

The lighting by Michael Hulls transports us to a mysterious world of piercing shafts of blue or amber light, contrasted with sinister shadows. At one moment we are in a jungle, then as the tree trunk splits we are on a mountain top complete with smoke emanating from the crevasse.

Until the Lions is disturbing, moving and uplifting all in one performance. It is a gem in the OzAsia Festival and it’s a pity that there are only two performances, as it deserves to be seen by everyone.

Barry Hill

Photographer: Jean Louis Fernandez

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