Seeta Patel: Subtle and Intense #Bharatanatyam
Seeta Patel in Something Then, Something Now at the Lilian Baylis Studio, (c) Carole Edrich 2014
I’ve just had a short phone conversation with Seeta Patel for something to go with the image I hope will be taken by LondonDance.com. I know virtually nothing about Bharatanatyam but was fascinated by the interaction between dancer and musicians and chatted to her for a while about how that works. Her conversation, like her dance, was subtle, sensitive and intesnsely focussed.
Seeta Patel in Something Then, Something Now at the Lilian Baylis Studio, (c) Carole Edrich 2014
Seeta Patel’s Something Then, Something Now was an intimate evening of dance and music from South India, featuring an orchestra of Carnatic musicians. After her solo work she offered a rare opportunity to see seasoned dancer and musician Pushkala Gopal in an up-close presentation of song and abhinaya, the concept of facial expression in Bharatanatyam which is used to lead the audience towards a sentiment.
Seeta Patel in Something Then, Something Now at the Lilian Baylis Studio, (c) Carole Edrich 2014
You’ll read more about Seeta and the dance form when I feel I understand it enough to talk about it intelligently. Meanwhile I hope these images convey a little of the complexity of this aspect of her work don’t let the lightness and subtlety of movements confuse you, what she does is intense and very physical indeed.
Find out more about Seeta who is going to be touring her solo work in France in November at her website.