<B>Phantas-maton </B><P>4 stars <BR>Stratford Circus, London<P>Judith Mackrell <BR>Guardian Unlimited<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Electronic dancing images are all the rage among choreographers at the moment - and it's no longer a surprise to see computer-generated performers striding around among live men and women on stage. But while the virtual bodies introduced by Merce Cunningham and Wayne McGregor seem to be visiting from some alien planet or future epoch, the pixilated dancer in Shobana Jeyasingh's new piece Phantasmaton comes from the classical past. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4350586,00.html" TARGET=_blank><B>more...</B></A><P><BR>

<BR><small>Photographer Chris Nash does the business yet again, <BR>capturing the sheer beauty of the dance, but also <BR>crytallising the blending of the two dance styles to create something new</small><P><BR>This sounds like a terrific piece of work. While Judith Mackrell is a fan of the Company, she doesn't always rate their work favourably. So I take this very positive review seriously.<P>For those of you have not seen Mavin Khoo dance before, he is one of the leading male dancers in any style performing in the UK. His technique is little short of astonishing.<P>I can't wait to see it and could kick myself for missing the Stratford show. We hope to get more information about the tour and will put it up here.<P><p>[This message has been edited by Stuart Sweeney (edited February 07, 2002).]

Review in The Telegraph.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>HAVING a specific classical training and a modern mind to use it with sets Shobana Jeyasingh apart from most contemporary choreographers. You would think it an advantage - her Bharata Natyam background gives her dances a distinctly Indian feel, with hands that make curlicues or dagger-points with equal vividness, legs that splay in delicate diamond shapes or suddenly thump out flat-footed drum rolls.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2002/02/07/btisme07.xml&sSheet=/arts/2002/02/07/ixartright.html" TARGET=_blank> <B> MORE </B> </A>

Review in The Times.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>SHOBANA JEYASINGH imbues bharata natyam, the classical dance of southern India in which she was trained, with the rhythms of modern life. For her it’s natural that traditional and contemporary forms coexist. <BR>Jeyasingh’s newest work, the half-hour sextet Phantasmaton, launched her company’s spring tour in Brighton this week. Like many of her dances, its rigorous underpinnings show through a seductive surface. <BR><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,62-2002064016,00.html" TARGET=_blank> <B> MORE </B> </A>

<BR><small>Phantasmaton</small><P><B>Chasing Jeyasingh</B><BR>Preview by Sarah Frater in The Evening Standard<P><BR>The paradox of London is that while we crave its multi-culti excitements, we still pine for rural peace and quiet, if only on a weekend basis. Dance maker Shobana Jeyasingh understands our dilemma and gently chips away at it in her sensuously hybrid choreography.<BR> <BR>India-born, Southwark-based Jeyasingh cleverly segues the exotic shapes of Bharata Natyam, the traditional Indian dance form, with the loose-limbed moves of the West. Of course, this cultural crossover isn't just a clever mix of Asian and European art. It's also about our mixed emotions, about leaving home and living in the city, the tensions in urban life, and how we reinvent ourselves in a manufactured world that we eventually make home.<P><A HREF="http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/dynamic/hottx/theatre/top_dance_review.html?in_review_id=493098&in_review_text_id=516726" TARGET=_blank><B>click for more</B></A>

<B>Fascinating fusion</B><BR>by Sarah Frater in The Eveninng Standard<P><BR>Shobana Jeyasingh has been producing her idiosyncratic fusion of East and West for nearly two decades, and it is to her great credit that her work continues to be as edgy and surprising as ever. <P>Phantasmaton is her latest piece, and it features a looped video of shapes, static and, most importantly, close-ups of a classical Bharata Natyam dancer - the south Indian style in which Jeyasingh originally trained. Asian tunes, sung brilliantly by Natacha Atlas on stage, together with a taped counterpoint, weave around her sinuous, enigmatic dancers, as they work their way through Jeyasingh's wonderful mixture of tension and release, static pose and furious explosion. <P><A HREF="http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/dynamic/hottx/theatre/dance_review.html?in_review_id=493098&in_review_text_id=524200" TARGET=_blank><B>click for more</B></A><BR>

Review in The Independent.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Throughout history, new dance forms have tended to be born from one culture brushing up against another. The bracing Anglo-Asian idiom developed by choreographer Shobana Jeyasingh over the past 15 years has travelled a long way from its origins in Bharata Natyam, the bell-jingling, darting-eyed, temple dance tradition of south India. You could say it's a journey that parallels many Asian Britons' experience. And, true to life, the journey has not always been smooth.<P><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/theatre/reviews/story.jsp?story=287807" TARGET=_blank> <B> MORE </B> </A>

Phantasmaton, the first work in last night’s performance by the Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company at The Place, is a work of rare beauty danced to an attractive score by Jocelyn Pook that contrasts post-minimalism with references to the eastern quartertone and was very capably sung by Natacha Atlas. The set comprises a construction of large metallic squares against a trellis like formation onto which are projected images of a traditional Indian dancer in time-honoured costume and make-up, providing a benign and rather enigmatic presence throughout the work.

The choreographic style is richly diverse with a skilful blend of classical, modern and Indian techniques and the piece opens with a male dancer actually boureeing on half point. Indian poses follow with backward flexing of feet and splayed fingered hand positions. Later the dancers line up at an imaginary barre in a gentle parody of the ballet class. Other playful oddities occur, like the girls lifting the boys and removing them from the stage as if they were shop window dummies. Ms Jeyasingh clearly takes her inspiration from a number of sources to create a rich method of dance that is quite unlike any other. She is totally unique.

The second ballet of the evening, [h]interland2, created a very different mood. In this the dancers competed with a backdrop video (Pete Gomes) of contrasting images alternating with a serene young woman in a peaceful setting to scenes of urban traffic isolating the same dancer (Chitra Srishailan) on a traffic island. Other settings include a disco and the familiar bar at The Place.

Donnacha Dennehy’s soundtrack sounds bleak and harsh, perhaps reflecting the urban chaos we are all forced to endure. The dancing is powerful and at times frenetic with Jeyasingh again exploring the possibilities of females lifting males. Technique and stamina are stretched to the limit. The dancers are simply marvellous, all possessed of strong stage presences, they meet the challenges of the choreography head on dancing full out in two very demanding pieces. Leading soloist Marvin Khoo deserves special mention: short and slight his dancing is both forceful and sensual at the same time. A very distinctive talent. And a word of praise for the programme with pictures of the dancers alongside their names. Other companies please note.

Review from the Observer.

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Review from the Observer.

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Shobana Jeyasingh
By Debra Craine for The Times


LONG one of the most individual voices on the British dance scene, Shobana Jeyasingh never ceases to surprise us. Just when you think you have her figured out, she does something with her choreography that causes you to rethink it.

Her double bill at the Place in London was a case in point. Coupling her two most recent works, both of them premiered last year, heightens the sense that Jeyasingh is an artist in transition. There is a new restlessness in her choreography, a brazen adventure that suggests she is anxious to move forward and has been bottling up the energy to do so.

Phantasmaton, a sharp essay of combative, hyperactive forces, is relayed in multiple layers that crisscross through abrupt changes of direction and darting imagery.

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Shobana Jeyasingh
Chat room from londondance.com


Your company are currently touring 'Phantasmaton and '[h]Interland2'. Do you have any new work in development at the moment?
I’m working on a piece for Watermans Arts Centre and also making a piece for Random this summer.

Your recent work ‘[h]Interland’ included a live web cast from Bangalore – and it was site specific for Greenwich Dance Agency. Have you had to change it significantly to tour it?
Sadly Yes. We couldn't afford the web casting on tour. It’s not site specific anymore - it’s a theatre piece and it communicates differently. I'm still trying to find out what its saying as I'm sitting in the audience. It feels completely different. I can see gaps in it, which the Greenwich Dance Agency building was filling up.

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