The 15 minutes contemporary dance festival — Quaterfest 2012 — held in the India Habitat Centre on December 8 and 9 was an energetic and dynamic performance.

In its second successive year, the festival saw nearly 70 dancers and nine choreographers sharing the same stage. The idea was to bring young and established contemporary dancers on one platform so that the performers can interact with each other, and look and learn from each other’s work.
An initiative of India Habitat Centre and Santosh Nair, artistic director of Sadhya, a contemporary dance company, Quaterfest 2012 gave each choreographer 15 minutes to showcase his/her interpretation of contemporary dance. The performances included companies like Sadhya, Bhoomika, DanceRulz (Vijay Rawat), Urshilaa Dance Company (Bhavini Misra), Shailja Nalwade, Ajay Bhatt and Danceworx.
Nair says that the festival was designed keeping in mind the busy schedule of people in Delhi, who don’t have time to see long festivals. The first performance of the festival An Ode to the Gurus was presented by Sadhya and choreographed by Arjun Kohli, Nanda Kumar and Rishi Sharma.
Directed by Nair, An Ode to the Gurus attempts to weave in simplicity, beauty and power as its three focal points. The energies multiply, creating images of focus and trust leading to a dynamic expression of power.
The second performance showcased Fragments choreographed by Tripura Kashyap, choreographer and movement therapist. Fragments is a collage of transient scenes that interrupt one another at random. Arranged movement structures reflect images of women and monks. “The choreography explores a blend of fluid contemporary dance punctuated with classical dance gestures and postures,” says Kashyap.
The third performance was presented by the group DanceRulz and choreographed by Vijay Rawat. The performance The Chair, reflects the intractable desire for power in man. The last and final performance of the day was by Urshila Dance Company and choreographed by Bhavini Misra. In this performance Rhydhunya, the ghungroo of Nataraj, the sound of nature, the drums of heaven convey the essence of all creation, which began with Om. The dance explores the expanse of inner rhythms and merges it with the jhankaar of outer rhythm.
The second day of the festival — December 9 — saw performances by Shailja Nalwade, Sandeep Dutta, groups Tapasya and Danceworx.
Danceworx came up with Songs of Life. Choreogr-aphed by Shohini Dutta, a trainer with Danceworx since 1999, it showcases the importance and definition of time in this fast-changing world. Dutta feels that contemporary dance in India has just begun. “The best part about contemporary dance is that it deals with current issues. Being a Kathak dancer, I feel that we have much more stories to show in contemporary dance than traditional dance,” adds Ms Dutta.
The group Tapasya showcased Conflict, choreograp-hed by Ajay Kumar Bhatt. The performance symbolised the two shades that we see, feel, observe or realise in our lives — one of purity or goodness and the other dark or negative.
Shailja Nalwade, who is from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, showcased Sound of Movement. Choreogra-phed by Nalwade, this dance takes inspiration from sounds emerging from nature, from instruments and from the human body, like the tap of the foot, the clap of the hand etc. This rhythm when combines with melody produces music that has multiple flavours and creates a heightened sense of being.