Shantala Shivalingappa is so versatile a dancer, you’d think she could go from the silks and bells of Indian dance to strapping on pointe shoes and dancing “Swan Lake.” And at “Namasya,” her program that opened Wednesday at The Joyce, you almost wished she had.
The marvelous dancer with the roller coaster of a name was born in India and raised in Paris. She’s worked with such European greats as the late choreographer Maurice Béjart and the director Peter Brook, and she is adept at both classical Indian and contemporary Western dance. Her show, “Namasya” — which means paying homage — went from Butoh to Pina Bausch, but it’s too much of the same thing.
Shivalingappa created one solo and surrounded it with three others by artists who influenced her: Bausch, Japanese butoh master Ushio Amagatsu and her own mother, dancer Savitry Nair.
It’s an evening without ornament. All four solos are danced to recorded music on a bare stage in simple costumes, either white or black. There’s no Indian dance except for hints in short films that were played between the solos.
In Amagatsu’s “Ibuki (Vital Breath),” Shivalingappa connects to nature, bringing forth things growing from the earth. Bausch’s “Solo” also has an organic quality: Here, moving her arms in wide circles, Shivalingappa flows about in a black evening gown.
Her own solo, “Shift,” is the most animated while she crouches as if ready to spring. “Smarana,” her mother’s work, is the most intense. With her back to us, Shivalingappa holds her arms above her head for several minutes as if carrying a celestial flower in the rays of the dying sun.
It takes a lot from a performer to achieve that stillness — and it also can take a lot out of an audience. Unfortunately, the Bausch and Amagatsu solos aren’t their most interesting works. Both choreographers can shock and disturb; here, they seem more contemplative. The show’s lighting — a dim womb-like glow throughout — points out the similarities rather than contrasts.
Unless you’re a fan, it’s a demanding evening. For all Shivalingappa’s talent, there’s not enough theater in “Namasya” to sit through an hour that felt both too short and too long.