It's been women like Shobana Jeyasingh and Chandralekha who've most obviously initiated encounters between Asian dance traditions and the global mix of post modernism. But now in the next generation some interesting men are on view - particularly Akram Khan and Mavin Khoo.
Both men have been trained in strict classical style - Khan in Kathak and Khoo primarily in Bharata Natyam - yet from the way they perform, it's obvious that they've also encountered a wide range of other styles, and that they're natural citizens of the eclectic 90s.
Mavin Khoo posesses an elegantly supple body, perfectly suited to the fine fretwork of Bharat Natyam. In his opening solo (a musically complex Tana Varnam), his glancing footwork and articulate fingers are pinpointed with a miniaturists art. His style is almost that of a woman dancer and in performance he plays with these feminine qualities. Yet it's underpinned by a hard muscular power that gives a thrilling percussive force to the twists and turns of his phrasing. Years of ballet training and a study of Cunningham-based modern dance have also given his body an openness rare among Asian dancers.
Akram Khan is different in every sense. A specialist in the blunter style of Kathak, with a much bigger, slower-moving body, Khan's western training has also taken in the weightier models of Graham-based dance and contact improvisation. The mix of styles is fascinating: while his Kathak solo highlights fiendish mathematics of rhythm and footwork, there's a large, easy grace in his upper body that's both street smart (from his own choreography I'd guess he's done some breakdance) and unexpectedly heroic.
The pair finish the evening in a jointly choreographed duet, No Male Egos. Set to music that alternates between fast-chattering rhythms and sustained modulations, it allows the men to join forces in some fierce and funky stamping but also to meditate on the stylistic differences between their bodies. As a composition, the duet is overlong and diffuse, yet the dancers carry it off by force of their touching stage empathy and considerable techniques.
