SUTRA - a dance performance extraordinaire

A visit to Cardiff provided an opportunity to see this very innovative dance performance.  I was unaware at the time of how it would link in with my current research - a bit of a result!

Using another media to explore and utilise the concept his performance linked in with my area of investigation re REPETITION EQUALS DIFFERENCE.

SUTRA a dance event held at The Millennium Centre in Cardiff was a collaboration between the dance choreographer Sidi Larbi Chrerkaoui and Anthony Gormley, our own home grown sculptor (Angel of the North) and 17 practising Buddhist monks from Shaolin Temple in China.
The monks practice a very strict Buddhist regime with Kung Fu and Tai Chi martial arts forming part of their daily lives.

Anthony Gormley's stage setting comprised of 21 wooden boxes which were carried and pushed around the stage by the monks, becoming walls, boats, beds, skyhscrapers, toys and temples. 
The show was exhilarating in its athleticism,  agility, the daring of the monks, yet contemplative and mesmeric with a background of music which emphasized the aura of a compelling ritual where repetition was used in a beautiful, unique and very effective manner. The visuals were stunning, pure, 'understated' form, both in shape and colour creating great focus for the audience. One hour passed quickly, yet was adequate time to become engrossed with the performance and the atmosphere created within the auditorium.  Anymore would perhaps have been overload both for the audience and for the monks whose physical stamina was a test of human endurance and discipline.