London:
We've all been there, forgotten passwords and stared at computer screens, drawing a blank. But could this be the theme for a dance?
An Indian classical dance choreographer thinks so. Her idea was one of the three dances that were selected as part of a prestigious dance show at the Southbank Centre in London.
All performances aimed to fuse Indian dance with western contemporary dance styles. A haunting yet thought-provoking piece by Indian choreographer Divya Kasturi asked audiences to think of the number of identities they assume online with different passwords and usernames.
She linked this with identity and the fact that every time you have to think of new words and letters as names and passwords.
"It is the day and age when we are using the Internet and creating innumerable number of usernames and passwords. And way we do this is, you choose your letters, characters, pre-rehearse it mentally and then you actually use it...so you are performing to the virtual world," choreographer Divya Kasturi said. "Paralleling that to choreography, we sequence our dances, plan our moves and perform them to a live audience, So there are a lot of parellels there and I wanted to flesh that out."
Meanwhile, Seeta Patel's "First Light" takes the audiences on a journey from fear of the unknown to enlightenment. A hybrid between Bharatnatyam and contemporary western styles, the performance explores Goddess Durga's nine incarnations.
"We looked at Goddess Durga and look at her many sides. Violent side, the side that rides the lion, the side that plays the Veena. So in one of the pieces we have layers..crossing the stage...so I went to the floor and I said well, this may be the moment to show her aritistic side and play the Veena," said dancer Kamala Devi.
The third performance too - like the other two had a deeper spiritual meaning. Detox - explored detoxification of mind, body and soul. It addressees society's wanton need to consume. The dancers used a a mix Indian dance form and western contemporary styles.
Akademi's director Mira Kaushik said, "I think its very important to ensure that we are part of the scene, we are part of the picture instead of living in the ghetto. A project like this opens us up to the wider world. We are confident about ourselves, we are Indians, our choreographers are Indian - but we are not scared of experimenting within a contemporary context."
The hall was full of dancers, Indian dance fans and other people interested in the fusion of western contemporary dance with other dance forms.
DR Ann David, Head of Dance, University of Roehampton said, "Most dancers we saw today are classically trained in Bharatnatyam and Kathak. Others come from a contemporary background. Somehow, audiences in the UK expect a very high level of contemporary dance. And these dancers are a doing a good job of bridging that gap."
The applause after the performances seemed to suggest the experiment was quite a success.