Who would have thought the twain would meet? And meet they did: the less than fifty-year-old Breakdance and the ancient dance form that is Bharata Natyam. All within the space of The Substation’s Guinness Theatre one Sunday evening. A free half-hour performance that proved more problematic and ideologically disturbing than entertaining.

Arul Ramiah, an established exponent of this traditional dance, collaborated with a group of three Canadians teens who formed the Breakdancing troupe, Decypher Cru, so named with reference to the contingent circle in which Breakdancers are meant to dance uninterrupted, cheered on by fellow dancers and audiences. The evening began with a video tracing the history and origins of breakdance - about the legends of Breakdancing and the legacy left behind by these icons for contemporary breakdancers, the latter expressing their awe and dreams for the dance. To the same soulful music accompanying the breakdance video, Arul emerged and began her Bharata Natyam.

Arul’s performance after the video presentation belonged to her usual standard of consummate professionalism and exquisite physical expressiveness. The articulation of symbolic gestures and the effortless joy evident not just from her face but in the execution of her moves moved even the most recalcitrant, eager-to-jeer teenager in the audience, who were mostly not accustomed to watching something so classical and historically precious. After the initial stunned silence and enthusiastic applause to Arul’s opening performance, came the Bharata Natyam video ripe with spiritual connotations introducing us to the world of Bharata Natyam, culminating in the image of Arul whirling in slow motion; as if to languorously capture her energetic joy at her own craft. Not a very informative video, although a brief interview later in the show with a well-known dance-guru reveals a point about how one can never be a Bharata Natyam performer if one does not have money. The roots of this dance dates back to when Devidasis – virgins given by their families to the temples like religious gifts – would dance their whole lives only for the gods. Commercialism, or the exploitation of established dance forms for money, was to be a key theme of the show.

Then came the Breakdance section. The three Canadian girls stepped out with barely enough electricity in their steps or faces between the three of them to light up the stage in the same way Arul had done. Their moves were tired, slow, and utterly lacklustre. Not once did I see an actual spin, whether in a curled-up position or on the hands, let alone on the head. None of these famous moves were present. And this lack was piled on top of a mounting accumulation of faults with regard to their painful lack of accurate coordination and bodily conviction.

Then the “collaboration” bit came in with Arul coming in to “compete” with the girls, showing off move for move, complicated leg-stamps for half-hearted handstands. Frivolous fun before everyone got together to talk “seriously” about how their respective dance styles have been subjected to the evils of commercial exploitation. It was quite ironic, specifically with regards to Decypher Cru, who were not only bad dancers who had sucked on the lower lip of a rich Breakdancing culture so as to gain street-cred, but who had also believed this part of the world would not see right through them. A pity, since they soon met more than just their match during a later part of the Pulp festival, when street kids from Malaysia showed Decypher Cru their own precise spins and bullet-speed legwork. Looks like us Asians can do Black better than non-Black Canadians?

It would have been anachronistic and downright snobbish to accuse Arul of devaluing the fine art of her craft by attempting to fuse it with hip-hop elements, as many must have already done in the local Indian arts scene. In this case, however, the imbalance of talent in favour of Arul’s powerful and beautiful performance made one wonder if perhaps her craft had somewhat been compromised by the lack of skill and sheer stage presence of her co-collaborators. Even by the end of the performance, Bharata Natyam still retained its age-old essence and spirit, thanks to Arul’s uncompromising performance, even when she had to “get down with it” together with the Decypher girls, fusing token Bharata Natyam gestures into dated eighties music-video choreography courtesy of the Canadians. Admittedly, the show ended well, with Arul executing closing arm movements to the whole performance, echoed physically by one of the breakdancers who turned upside down so as to imitate those traditional poses with her legs. It was an ironic hint of what a successful collaboration could have possibly looked like in a parallel universe.

Written for Arul Ramiah's upcoming website in 2004