Search for:
ARTISTIC
CONTRIBUTIONS
> Dance > South
Asian
Natasha Bakht is an Indian contemporary dancer and
choreographer. She trained in bharata natyam under Menaka Thakkar
for over 20 years, touring internationally with her company.
For three seasons, she danced with the Shobana Jeyasingh Dance
Company in London, England, renowned for its groundbreaking work
in Indian contemporary dance. She has also worked with choreographers
Yvonne Coutts, Joan Phillips, Wayne McGregor and Robert Desrosiers
and has appeared in their works in a variety of festivals including
several Kalanidhi Festivals and the Canada Dance Festival.
Natasha has collaborated with
Montreal's Roger Sinha on three pieces. Her own choreography
includes a group piece, Riaz, for the Menaka Thakkar Dance Company
and four solos for herself entitled Dance If You Must, Appropriating
Edges, Obiter Dictum and White Space. Obiter Dictum was nominated
for a 2003 Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Choreography.
In 2008, Natasha was the co-recipient
of the K.M. Hunter Artists Award, which is presented to individual
artists in Ontario who have begun to produce a body of work and
are starting to make a significant mark in their field. Natasha
has been described as "a brilliant diamond" (The Dance
Current, 2005)… "all honed to the bone elegance and
precision" (Vancouver Sun, 2004).
|
|
|
^ click above to enlarge |
^ click above to enlarge |
Photo by: Michael Slobodian
Natasha Bakht dancing in Still choreographed by Yvonne Coutts
in 2006. |
Photo by: David Hou.
Natasha Bakht in Triptych Self choreographed by Shobana Jeyasingh
in 2005. |
|
|
|
^ click above to enlarge |
^ click above to enlarge |
Photo by: David Hou
Natasha Bakht dancing in Triptych Self choreographed by Shobana
Jeyasingh in 2005. |
Photo by: Cylla Von Tiedemann
Natasha Bakht dancing in her own choreography, Obiter Dictum,
which was nominated for a 2003 Dora Mavor Moore Award. |
Natasha Bakht Critical Reviews
"Bakht's performance gave
an inkling of the powerhouse that she is. With a body that moves
with innate grace, a dynamism that blurs the gap between the
possible and the impossible in its exploration of spaces and
a vigour that is not encountered often, she fired up the stage…"
Kathakali Jana, Hindustan Times, January 17, 2008
" La précision
de la gestuelle, l'extrême épure de l'architecture
chorégraphique, le mélange improbable mais réussi
de l'élégance aérienne et de la puissance
tellurique de l'interprétation, la perfection physique
et l'aura de beauté de la danseuse, tout cela laisse littéralement
sans souffle. "
Aline Apostolska, La Presse, Décembre 2007
" Mais dans ce déferlement
de rafinement, la nouvelle création de Bakht présentée
en grande première, White Space-une réflexion sur
la blancheur-,séduit par son dépouillement énigmatique,
son approche plus déconstruite et sa dramaturgie subtile."
Frédérique Doyon, Le Devoir, Décembre
2007
" Malgré l'extrême
sophistication de sa danse tout en angles et en précisions,
celle-ci dégage une douce sensualité qui prend
sa source dans la pudeur et al concentration. "
Frédérique Doyon, Le Devoir, Décembre
2007
"Shobana Jeyasingh's solo
features the exquisite dancing of Natasha Bakht…The stunning
Bakht, replete with gorgeous long legs and arms, is supple, elastic
and precise, and the choreographer has utilized the dancer's
strength in creating the quirky and unpredictable Triptych Self…In
short, Jeyasingh has created an homage to a perfect body, but
one in which the mind is in a whirl. It is, in fact, this feeling
of restless energy that elevates Triptych Self from pure dance
to the agony and ecstasy of being a modern-day woman."
Paula Citron, The Globe and Mail, February 26, 2005
"Bakht is all honed to
the bone elegance and precision."
Deborah Meyers, Vancouver Sun, July 28, 2004
"Bakht the gifted technician…is
cool, poised and elegant. She uses her body with surgical precision,
every gesture, every step, cuts cleanly and exquisitely through
the air."
Paula Citron, The Globe and Mail, December 14, 2002
"The sensational Bakht
can toss off pure bharatanatyam with ease, as well as tackling
anything that is thrown her way. She has an elastic body and
a surgically precise technique."
Paula Citron, The Globe and Mail, December 24, 2002
"…the combination
of delicacy and power, reserve and boldness, assertion and grace
in her dancing speak not only of her own history but of a whole
changing art form."
Judith Mackrell, The Guardian, April 23, 1997
"Uncompromising yet graceful,
Natasha is made of steel and skin…"
Shreela Ghosh, Aditi Magazine, March 1995
<<
top
The project was made
possible with the support of the
Department
of Canadian Heritage through the Canadian Culture Online Strategy
The Acrobat Reader
is available free from 