They may not be on your radar yet, but the women of the Nrityagram Dance Ensemble are rock stars in the dance world. At Tuesday’s opening night, Mikhail Baryshnikov and Isaac Mizrahi were in the audience, and choreographer Mark Morris was on his feet at the curtain, shouting bravos.
You can’t fault his taste. The group, based in southern India, specializes in sinuous Odissi dance, and its newest production, “Samhara,” is a feast. In brilliant saris festooned with dangling gold, the dancers are set off like jewels in the dramatic lighting. But it’s their precision and control that brings the house down.
Western ballet strives to be gossamer light, but Odissi drives into the floor as the dancers slide and stamp across the stage in a powerful crouch. It makes the rare, sudden springs into the air even more exciting. Atop their pounding legs, the women make delicate, intricate gestures.
The musicians at the side of the stage play and sing religious poems and tales in Sanskrit, but the most exciting vocals are syllables recited rapid-fire: virtuosity of the tongue.
“Samhara” has several meanings: skill, but also drawing together. The three Nrityagram dancers have teamed up with two women from Sri Lanka’s Chitrasena Dance Company, experts in Kandyan dance. The two groups mesh, entering and weaving through and around one another like paisley patterns on a shawl. The Sri Lankans are taller and lighter, which makes the dance seem to happen on two levels — high and low.
The program is easy to follow, with helpful narration before each dance. One of the dancers, Surupa Sen, directs the company and choreographs with sure-footed assurance. For the finale, she dispensed with a story for a pure display of movement fireworks. Entering from everywhere at once, five dancers did the work of 20, ending the show with a delicious display.