Elton John may not be the typical sort of music playing in a classical Indian dance or ballet performance, but two dance companies are fusing numerous styles and cultures during a performance that addresses some of the most mysterious topics — evolution, humanity and Planet Earth.
Peninsula Ballet Theatre and TaalSutra, a Saratoga-based Indian dance company, are collaborating in “Creation: From Dashavatar to Elton John,” a one-time dance performance at College of San Mateo that takes on different time periods and social issues with nearly 50 dancers and actors.
Part of the work showcases the concept of Dashavatar, or the 10 incarnations of Hindu, symbolizing progression of life, and the finale blends both ballet performers and TaalSutra dancers. The performance represents four of the eight classical Indian dance forms — Kathak, Odissi, Bharatanatyam and Manipuri.
“With Elton John, the theme of their whole program is the circle of life, how we all have to stick together — even the dance styles have to stick together to continue,” Greg Amato, artistic director of the Peninsula Ballet Theatre, said.
Arundharti Parmar, scriptwriter for the performance, said it includes Earth and humanity as separate characters, engaging in “cosmic discussions.”
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The theme is that Earth is facing an existential crisis, and we tried to tie that with the environmental crisis and with the moral crisis,” Parmar said. “We can’t depend on divinity. We need to depend on humanity.”
TaalSutra recently performed at Peninsula Lively Arts’ annual International Dance Festival, which is how Amato initially got connected with the dance group.
Given the state of the arts and especially dance companies, both Amato and Parmar said the collaborations are beneficial both practically and creatively.
It feels so good to be connected to the Bay Area dance community,” Parmar said. “This is true for a lot of immigrant dance groups, but we sort of stick to our own lanes, because it’s very comfortable. But it’s more enriching this way.”
The show will take place 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 2, in the College of San Mateo Theater. You can buy tickets at tugoz.com/taalsutra-creation.
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