Savitri Leaves Audience Wanting For More

PDC received a wonderful reception from the audience as Savitri leaves the audience wanting more!

Planet Hugill wrote, “The three dancers were there from the beginning, and moved around the singers creating an entirely distinct effect. This was a daring and imaginative concept, and Urja Desai Thakore’s choreography was fascinating, using Kathak traditions yet responding to very English music. Pagrav means ‘the sound of feet’ and the sound of the dancers’ bare feet did indeed form a lovely counterpoint to the music. The result was very much an Anglo-Indian synthesis, there was no way that Holst’s music was anything other than what it was, yet the performance brought out his sense of the other, the otherworldly. This was a one-off performance, but it would be lovely if a way could be found to develop it into a full staging. I thought the results would be wonderful indeed.”

Giving it ★★★★, Rebecca Franks from The Times wrote, “Stripped of cliché, the orchestra’s music flickers in and out, flaring brightly as the power of Savitri’s love becomes clear. It could have been crushingly static were it not for the dancers. The Indian classical specialist Urja Desai Thakore had choreographed graceful and understated movements for three dancers from her Pagrav Dance Company, who weaved in and out of the opera’s cast, mirroring the action and underscoring emotion. If anything, their contribution could have been pushed even more.”

Fiona Maddocks from The Guardian ★★★★ 

Andrew Clements from The Guardian ★★★

Bach Track ★★★★