Winner of the Villa Medicis fellowship, Dominique Delorme has led for 35 years a career as a dancer and choreographer in Europe, Asia, the USA.

Initially trained in Bharatanatyam, he specialised in karanas who disappeared in the 14th century. Nourished by international collaborations, he participates in the revival of these ancient techniques, transposes them in a new context and transmits their modernity.

He has created solos, duos, shows for his Paris based company and others in Europe and the USA. He has collaborated with directors in theater and cinema. He conducts lectures & masterclasses in Europe, India, the USA.

EUROPE

Master piece... Innovation which is the characteristic of all great artsits... Elfin grace, sculpturesque and entirely novel movements... Neither gestures nor movements, he paints light... He immersed before he built his artwork... Messenger of a cultural blend... Body and soul in complete harmony... State of grace... Audience bowled over... Perfect Interpretation... Superb pas de deux... A challenge... Superbly interpreted and choreographed... Sculptural balance... With majesty... 

ASIA

A supernova...Virtuoso... Magnificent... Impressive... Astonishing... Few can equal his perfection... Proving art has no frontiers... A diamond needle piercing darkness... Presence and indomitable energy... Audience spellbound... Phenomenal interptretative and rythmic mastery... The feline lightness of grace embodying simultaneously the power of a tiger... He transformed into an image of pure joy, tugged at the audience's heartstring...

USA

A rare offering of dance... Mastery to be found among all great dancers... Extraordinary dancer who lives an indelible impression.... Remarkable dexterity... Fluidity and sheer power... Pure passion... Fervor... Exorbitant control... Powerful body language... Breathtaking... Less is more...

SOURCES

Le Monde, Liberation, Figaro, Les Saisons de la Danse, Peuples du Monde, The Hindu, Hindustan Times, Telegraph, Staight Times, Asian Age, Orange County Register, India Currents, India West, Aside Magazine, Sruti Magazine, Natyamandir News, Narthaki, India Bhai Bhai, Soorya Festival, Dauphiné Libéré, Carnets de Voyages de Susan Buirge

The 108 karanas  are the dance units described in the Natyashastra, the oldest treatise on the performing arts written around the 4th century BC.

They disappeared in the 14th century and were long considered as pauses because frozen in the stone of some temples of South India and Java.

During the second part of the 20th century, Padma Subrahmanyam reconstructed them during a comparative study between the sculptural recordings and the ancient treatises.

Karanas  are the source of all the dance movements that have developed in the Indian subcontinent, from Afghanistan to Indonesia, via Burma and Cambodia.

They are characterized by symmetry, precision, fluidity and are classified by their comic, graceful or acrobatic nature.

The major difference between karanas  and current dance techniques is in the use of the legs and space. The leg extension has practically disappeared and the current styles depend solely on the stamping. These leg movements are used in the Western styles.

Besides their aesthetic appeal, karanas  have a theatrical value. When they disappeared in the 14th century, theater became the only means of communication and dance relegated to a simple aesthetic function devoid of emotion.

Karanas  are born from the urgency to imitate and glorify the nature of Man and his environment. They are chosen to create various feelings, to depict general ideas, transient emotions or animals.

Enriched by multicultural artistic collaborations, he has developed his own ways to transmit the universal values and the educational potential of the karanas  and Natyashastra. He aims at inspiring contemporary creation.

Exploration and isolations of all the parts of the body. Coordination, control, precision, fluidity, emotion. Evolution towards complex movements. Choreographic and theatrical applications.

Photos : Anne Lacombe - dancingindia.net