Agni’s Jwala: A Review

By Sumita Sami 31 May 2009 293 views One Comment

When I first saw them, it looked like they’d pulled out all the stops. Their Muqala Muqabula began with a full cowboy costume and proceeded to thoroughly entertain the audience with glow-in-the-dark skeletons. I knew then that I wouldn’t be averse to watching more Agni performances.

It was only in 2007 that Agni, begun by Prakash Mohandas, entered the Austin South Asian entertainment scene, but an interesting blend of everything from hip-hop to Indian classical dance forms has garnered them many outside engagements. Including, of course, ICA’s Jhalak 2008, where they danced to the popular Muqala Muqabula.

Agni The Dance Company, however, consists not only of professional dancers but also of their students, who are anywhere between from four and forty. And it was to showcase the many talents of these students that Agni put up its Jwala show on May 16. Billed as a tribute to the Oscar-winning A. R. Rahman, it was a mix of professional and student dances, Bollywood and semi-classical moves, and Hindi and Tamil music.

Jwala was also host to the very interesting Taiko drummers group, whose huge drums helped to frame the opening dance, O Saya from Slumdog Millionaire. The introduction of the names of the students proved that this show had culled its performers from a range of communities and age groups.

Some of those age groups clearly held Agni’s youngest, and most charming, dancers. Rock and Roll Soniye and Deewangi were performed by a group of children, some of whom were definitely younger than ten. They might not have displayed much in the way of coordination, but they spun and shimmied with great vigor, and their parents cheered with equal enthusiasm. I already hoped that most of them would continue developing their talent for dance.

Up next for Taal Western was a group of Agni’s female performing artistes. It was a great choice of song, and I thought the girls did just as good a job dancing to it. Another obvious choice for a popular Bollywood song was Love Mera Hit Hit. Although I really enjoyed the precision and energy of lead dancer Prakash, a couple of the other girls dancing with him could have been a little more coordinated. I was once again impressed, though, with the age range of the group; it was a spirited performance. I had the same thoughts about Mar Jaani. I particularly appreciated the fact that several older women were taking part with such enthusiasm.

The next item featured a few more of Agni’s professional male dancers with Chikku Bukku Raile and Urvasi. The first was opened with an utterly adorable kid mouthing the first lines of the song. After this novelty, the next few minutes didn’t seem nearly as entertaining. But when a lanky hooded figure stalked onto stage to introduce Urvasi, the audience laughed and clapped appreciatively. I particularly enjoyed the coordination of the dancers in this item. After a brief interval to hand out student awards, the show resumed with Dance of Envy, followed by Agni’s young students, who took to the stage again for Dance Pe Chance. At this point I realized that part of my appreciation for the show was due to the costuming as well - slightly too glittery at parts, it nonetheless gave a solid stage presence to even the little children, who seemed quite comfortable in their new clothes.

Used in the first song, and then left to loom behind the dancers for the rest of the evening, a large drum came to the forefront again as the Taiko drummers came onstage. With their lead drummer explaining the provenance of their every piece, the group began a series of small performances that ranged from introspective to battle-inspiring. Their last piece ended with a deliberately abrupt clash of beats that got a laugh out of the audience.

As a fitting end to the entire dance show, however, Agni finished with a medley of songs that included Pappu Can’t Dance and Mausam and Escape. This last item was probably my favorite of the night; the dancers seemed to really throw themselves into the frantic beats of the song.

Despite the high of the dance performances, though, I thought a couple of things could have been improved. While the MCs made efforts to carry the show on smoothly and entertain the audience, they dragged things on a little with their extended interludes. The backstage and technical work, especially the videos, was a little patchy at the beginning of the show, although they shaped up well towards the end.
The dancing, however, more than made up for these issues, and we will, hopefully, be seeing more of Agni’s performances in the future.

References: Agni The Dance Company

Photo Courtesy: Angi The Dance Company