S-Curve Feedback

| Print

Dakshina lead an interactive workshop with Anish Kapoor’s S-Curve Sculpture at the Sackler Gallery in June. Here are the comments from one participant.

Hello Mr. Singh,

I just wanted to write and say how much I enjoyed the Sensual S workshop you and the dancers of Dakshina led on Saturday. It greatly enhanced my enjoyment of the “S-Curve” sculpture and of Asian art in general. When I looked at Anish Kapoor’s sculpture before the workshop, at first I just walked around it and thought, “Oh, I see my reflection.” My reaction was similar upon watching the original dance Dakshina performed. Your workshop transformed all my perceptions. Admittedly, experimenting with the positions numbered on the floor was neat. But what made that experience especially valuable was combining those positions with the movements you had taught us.

Now, instead of just staring at our reflections passively, a whole new world of wonderment opened before my friend and me. At one point where upward movements were exaggerated out into space, her doing the “wings” motion and lifting her arms made it seem as if she was flying up into eternity. At another point where sideways movements were extended and elongated, it appeared as if her walking and arm movements revealed something out of “The Matrix” or stop-motion photography, with multiple, slightly different images of her visible at one time. On the other side of the sculpture, there was a point where no reflection of her (standing near the sculpture) was visible. However, if I twisted my body slightly, I could see surreal views of individual, disconnected parts of her upper body duplicated and made into mirror image. As she did your arm movements, she looked just like one of those four-armed Hindu deities we saw in the galleries downstairs. Being aware of the reflections and how they can manipulate and distort movement made me appreciate Dakshina’s final dance all the more. This time, I concentrated on looking at the dancer who was reflected in the seam of the sculpture and how her movements were constantly exaggerated. On some occasions, this produced humorous results, as when she had incredibly long feet. But at other times, the S-shaped curve of her body became even more pronounced and in much more vivid relief. What a truly sensual S indeed! Thank you so much for an astounding and eye-opening experience.

Steve