Dancing on the spiritual borders

Jennifer K Mahal

The names of the dances are as exotic as the locations that gave birth

to them -- butoh from Japan, bharatanatyam from Southern India, Moroccan

guedra and Uzbek classical dances from Uzbekistan.

“All these dances and music, what they have in common is their

spiritual basis,” Laurie Buenafe said. “So I see ‘Borderland’ as the

space between heaven and Earth.”

“Borderland,” a multicultural dance concert to be staged tonight at

Orange Coast College, is Buenafe’s dream -- actually it’s her senior

project for her world dance certificate. The concert will bring together

four world dance masters -- Ramaa Bharadvaj, Carolyn Krueger, Don McLeod

and Zahra Zuhair -- for a magic airline tour through Eastern lands.

A teacher at OCC, Bharadvaj started dances from the temples of South

India as a prodigy when she was 4. Bharadvaj and her daughter, Swetha,

will open the show with a bharatanatyam consecrating the space of the

college’s Dance Studio B.

“We are going to walk with flames,” Bharadvaj said, “because in Indian

culture, flames signify enlightenment. So we’re going to walk and form

the border of the dancing space. We’re going to define the space.”

The dance, which Bharadvaj choreographed, will also invoke

purification with holy waters.

Bharadvaj, who has had her own dance company for the past 15 years,

will also close out the evening’s performance with a dance celebrating

rhythm. In many world religions, the universe came into existence with

sound and with the first sound, started moving, she said.

“Through rhythm, we will make offerings to the divine and give thanks

for giving this gift,” Bharadvaj said.

That thread of spirituality will run through the entire program.

Krueger and her Gulistan Dance Theater, of which Buenafe is a member,

is setting Uzbek classical dances with Sufi poetry -- Islamic mystic

poetry.

Though not considered a Sufi dance, Krueger said mystical sentiment

underlies the spirit of the dances she choreographed. “All are spiritual

in nature but not blatant,” Krueger said.

The piece will be performed by troupe members Monica Ramos, Alana Reed

and Donna Speckman.

Krueger also plans to perform an interpretive dance from “Layla and

Majnun,” a Middle Eastern version of “Romeo and Juliet.”

“I just hope the audience will have the experience of what the dance

means to those of us who do it,” Krueger said, “how it affects our total

being and outlook on life, because it has really cemented a spiritual

connection to the world.”

McLeod feels that connection through doing butoh, a Japanese dance

form started in the late 1950s.

“Butoh is a very spiritual examination in the sense that the goal is

to become one with all things,” said McLeod, who learned the dance form

four years ago after having spent a career as a mime artist. He studied

with Marcel Marceau in the 1970s.

The dance -- which combines such elements as Kabuki and German

Expressionism -- is mostly improv. McLeod said he plans to listen to the

music, create a theme in his mind and then let his body speak.

“The pacing is extremely slow and quite interesting with all the

sound-byte type of technology” we have, he said, “People really embrace

butoh as a very refreshing art form, to have time almost halted.”

In a way, time has halted in Zuhair’s dancing. Zuhair will perform a

guedra, a dance of the Tuareg Berbers, the blue people of the Sahara,

which traces its origins back thousands of years.

The particular dance Zuhair will perform is a ritual to send blessings

and goodwill to the world.

The Tuareg “believe that it is their responsibility to send out all

these blessings and protection against evil in the world,” said Zuhair,

who has been performing this dance for 20 years. “They feel they have

direct contact to the spirit world through the elements of nature, that

they were born to this.”

Each of the performers will be accompanied by live music provided by

David Martinelli, Malek Vossough and members of UCLA’s Near Eastern

Ensemble. Original music by Buenafe and Maghan Ivey will also be

featured.

An open discussion with the choreographers will follow the

performance.

“Many times, you see this and come away with an exotic feeling,”

Bharadvaj said. “Some people [have an] understanding, some don’t, instead

looking at the bells and costumes.”

With “Borderlands,” the audience has the opportunity to interact with

the choreographers, ask questions and come away with a deeper

understanding, she said.

“I hope this will be an eye-opening experience for the audience,”

Bharadvaj said.

FYI

WHAT: “Borderland”

WHEN: 8 tonight

WHERE: OCC’s Dance Studio B, 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa

COST: $2-$5

CALL: (714) 791-1043 or (714) 432-5506, Ext. 1