Art & Culture

The Sa Dance Company in NYC

On Friday, May 14th NYC audiences were privy to a magical dance performance at the Ailey Citigroup Theater, courtesy of the Sa Dance Company and the twelve fantastic dancers who make up this breathtaking ensemble. With the theater packed wall to wall, the atmosphere on and off the stage was infectiously exhilarating.

Watching a group of women dance in such organic unison and performing with such enthusiasm and perfect form is simply enchanting. But the beauty of Sa Dance Company - under the artistic direction of Payal Kadakia - runs deeper than their perfectly performed routines and stunningly put together women. Their deep allure lies within the uniqueness of each individual member of this dance company, their varied interpretation of the material and their distinct characters and physique. Dance great Merce Cunningham once said "You have to love dancing to stick to it. It gives you nothing back, no manuscripts to store away, no paintings to show on walls and maybe hang in museums, no poems to be printed and sold, nothing but that single fleeting moment when you feel alive. It is not for unsteady souls." I would add to his statement that a great dancer has to give him or herself completely to their art, without expecting their ego to be pampered or their pride to be soothed.

It is in fact those dancers who can make their art seem quite effortless that we, as an audience, most enjoy watching. Because hidden within those fluid, apparently simple moves lie the true artists. Devoid of the bravado that will make them seem like heroes in their jumps, or heroines in their pirouettes, the twelve women who make up the corps of the Sa Dance Company are just such magical dancers. But a word of caution: Try to replicate any of their single moves and you'll realize just how challenging their routines truly are. The performance started with a piece titled 'I Believe' and indeed, it made me believe in a world where beauty and grace not only exist, but reign supreme! Dedicated to the dancers' mothers, with music by A.R. Rahman and Sur Madhur Productions, 'I Believe' was folk in tone but modern in execution. Piece 'Two' - by name and order - featured the dancers in a black dress and peach dupatta, to the music of various Bollywood favorites, their dancing a bit more contemporary in style. After the intermission, filmmaker Mira Nair took the stage to show her support for Payal Kadakia, the woman who taught Nair to dance a routine she performed at her niece's wedding. She gushed about the grace and talent of the company and assured that they all have "A very quick job waiting for them, when 'Monsoon Wedding' opens on Broadway, as a musical!"

In the third piece, 'A Bollywood Tale' the dancers gave Aishwarya and Madhuri Dixit a run for their money, even performing the infamous 'Dola Re Dola' from Bhansali's 'Devdas'. And, dulcis in fundo, the company closed the evening with a totally contemporary piece titled 'ID #: AIMNEDRIIACA' which not only showed a more acrobatic side to their talent but also showcased their wide dramatic range and contemporary technical abilities.

Fawzia Afzal-Khan’s memoir of childhood in Pakistan weaves together memory and desire to create a tale that is marvelously compelling and endlessly entertaining, at once poignantly personal and richly political. . . . Readers of this book will inevitably be reminded of the work of Anais Nin, and this is a major achievement. For women growing up in Pakistan’s patriarchal, segregated society, it is not surprising that female friendships take on a deep, enduring resonance. Yet what happens to these friendships? Hajira gives up art in deference to her husband’s success and later, at a dinner party, shoots herself. Saira marries a medical student when she is eighteen, has three children, lives through her husband’s affairs, and has a nervous breakdown. Madina, aggressive and foul-mouthed, abuses her husband and competes with Afzal-Khan in the theater and romantically. Samina’s body is found on a bench in the garden of a hospital, a suspected ‘honor killing’ by her brothers.

In Lahore with Love, Afzal-Khan shares intimate stories of these young girls, and later women, celebrating the strong bonds that helped shape her character. She balances this coming-of-age memoir with a clear-eyed look at a country that evokes both fierce loyalty and utter despair from its inhabitants. The author recalls growing up in the sixties and seventies in Lahore, living in a time of war, attending a Roman Catholic school as a Muslim middle-class teenager, and enduring the constant political upheaval that threatened her freedoms. Afzal-Khan eventually leaves Lahore and moves to the United States to pursue her Ph.D. She recounts the complex mix of longing and alienation that she feels upon returning to visit her homeland and friends.

Fawzia Afzal-Khan is University Distinguished Scholar, professor of English and director of Women and Gender Studies at Montclair State University in New Jersey. She is a published poet and playwright. Her books include Cultural Imperialism and the Indo-English Novel and A Critical Stage: The Role of Secular Alternative Theatre in Pakistan. She is the coeditor of Shattering the Stereotypes: Muslim Women Speak Out and The Pre-occupation of Postcolonial Studies.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a non-conformist, any which way you look at it. The former Somali-Dutch politician's story is one that called for self-reinvention. EGO contributor, E. Nina Rothe writes about Ayaan Hirsi Ali's indomitable presence at the Durbar Hall.

At the recently concluded Jaipur Literature Festival, an annual event organized by writer William Dalrymple and an insightful five-day journey through the literary world, Ayaan Hirsi Ali made an unannounced stop to speak about her book 'Infidel' and her views on Islam. The Somalian-born filmmaker and author was accompanied by her ever-present bodyguard, the result of the Fatwa issued against her. It was a Sunday morning surprise, during a particularly session-busy time at the literary festival, but I made sure to attend. Hirsi Ali is no stranger to controversy, whether she is writing, speaking, being a politician or simply dating. She wrote the script of a film which cost Theo van Gogh his life, then became a Dutch Member of Parliament, only to resign from the position because of statements she made while seeking asylum in the Netherlands. Lately, she's been in the news for contributing to the break-up of the marriage between neo-conservative historian Niall Ferguson and his wife Susan Douglas. Ferguson and Hirsi Ali met last year in NYC and were even photographed kissing at the JLF, which might have accelerated Ferguson's divorce decision.

But regardless of her personal life, it is undeniable that Hirsi Ali is a figure both provocative and controversial and her voice is one that whether we agree with her or not, needs to be heard. She has a physical presence that is impossible to ignore: tall, lean and simply dressed, with just a stitch of make-up and pulled back hair. Her voice is at once feminine and authoritative. And she certainly did not hold back during her talk, which was moderated by Tehelka's editor Shoma Chaudhuri and held in the beautiful Durbar Hall inside the grounds of Diggi Palace, the festival's home since its beginnings. In her teenage years, Hirsi Ali admitted to having supported the Fatwa issued against Salman Rushdie but now sees the irony in having to live in a similar way. From an early age, she followed what she called a kind of 'Amulet Islam', more of a moderate form of the religion but noticed a definite shift in Somalia, right around 1985. Faith became like an 'inner Jihad' whereas before then 'we were all Muslims and we took it for granted' she said. After this change, the religion 'made you a member of a group, gave you a common objective. You got points for the life in the Thereafter' she continued.

When Chaudhuri questioned her complete repudiation of Islam, instead of going back to a more moderate form of the religion, Hirsi Ali answered that 'those who take the religion in its most militant form, who have interests in spreading Islam, they have shut down the conversation. Just doubting makes you a traitor or an infidel' and continued that 'Western values are incompatible with Islam, where men and women are NOT equal and gay individuals should be killed.' As a whole, she pointed out that moderate Muslims are regarded as people who have discarded Islam and she advised that reform within the religion would only be possible when the idea that Islam is not perfect could be widely accepted by its followers and clerics. Hirsi Ali pointed to the fact that 'Christian and Jewish fundamentalists are highly criticized and cartooned' and yet Islamic fundamentalists are avoided as a way to appease, to avoid provocation. She asked 'Can you have a conversation about Islam in any language where you will not offend Muslims?' and continued 'If you touch on the Qu'ran or the sayings of the Prophet Mohammed you will offend Muslims.'

Of course, as far as organized world religions go, Islam is the youngest of the lot. If we look back at Christianity in the 1400, there were two Popes and an Antipope, so from a simply chronological point of view, we could say that Islam is exactly where it should be, treading through its own Middle Ages. Granted, it is difficult to begin the dialogue with a religious faction that simply does not recognize a need for a more moderate version of its doctrines. But is it also possible that a fervent feminist like Hirsi Ali, who has experienced displacement and fear as a result of her beliefs, can stop seeing things multi-dimensionally and perhaps become guilty of a bit of what she so despises in her fundamentalist counterparts?

Fazil Jamali’s award-winning art is a refreshing combination of traditional influences and raw talent. The South Asian artist infuses Neo-impressionistic techniques like Pointillism with his own minimalistic style of drawing. The result is a varied, and sometimes haunting, body of work tied to together by Mr. Jamali’s love of nature. The lush colors found in his travels are reflected in loose brushstrokes and saturated tones that capture the eye. EGO Magazine talks to the talented artist about his life and art.

Physical hardships or difficult circumstances do not faze me. Since childhood, I have never paid any heed to difficult situations. I prefer solitude and am generally quiet by nature. While serving in the Himalayas in the Northern Areas of Pakistan, along the Line of Control between the Pakistan and India border, I would go off alone on long walks through pine woods and birch trees. Thus, nature has become a part of life, and I like to see myself existing in relation to nature. I realized that I wanted to be one with nature, as it gave me ultimate joy. I want to be part of the mosaic of nature. Even now, I must go out every day to be able to feel and see the plants and trees.

The perspective of all my landscape paintings is from the front, giving the viewer the feeling that he or she is about to step into it. They exude peace, calm and tranquility, which is in fact my theme. The viewer can also feel a sense of calmness and peace. Painting is a therapy for me. Inactivity makes me restless, giving me a sense of wastefulness and an aimless life. I paint for my wellness and for the joy it gives me.

Painting portraits with pigments on cork and fresco tempera is very exhilarating, relaxing, as well as exciting and fun. I do not have to deliberate on the faces and features, which I draw randomly in a matter of minutes. Of course, the preparation of the surfaces takes a lot of time and effort.

Anand Surapur's yet unreleased film 'The Fakir of Venice' will be screened on Thursday, November 12th, as part of the upcoming MIAAC Film Festival, a favorite fall event to help heat up those chilly nights in the Big Apple.

It is a film that is at once touching, tragic and charming. The film has been hailed in the Hollywood Reporter as 'A dark Indian comedy that could potentially reach a broad art-house audience' and of course, the now infamous title of 'Slumdog Millionaire' was also mentioned in the next paragraph of the film's review by Kirk Honeycutt.

With his own special brand of globalization, Anand Surapur is helping to link that bridge between India and the West that has been indisputably palpable after the success of Danny Boyle's film -- which incidentally also premiered in NYC as the Centerpiece of the 2008 edition of the Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council festival. Surapur is a pleasant island among filmmakers who mistrust the media and rush through interviews in an effort to keep their "essence" -- what makes them appear bigger than life and manifest the talent they possess -- to themselves.

Following is a leisurely conversation I had with Surapur, over Guinness and chai at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles. Although he won't be presenting the film at MIAAC, his star Farhan Akhtar is slated to introduce the screening and answer any of the audience's questions.

As is often said ‘the world is, fortunately, never clear and simple’ and the village of Darra Adam Khel stands testimony to the adage. Nestled in the stunning mountains of NWFP, Pakistan is the town of Darra Adam Khel, devoted almost entirely to the production of guns.

This is the setting for Benjamin Gilmour’s ‘Son of a Lion’, about a young Pashtun boy who wants to go to school instead of working in his father’s weapons workshop. ‘Son of a Lion’ premiered at the 2008 Berlin International Film Festival.