Theatre Review: Sutra Is Serenity At White Light Festival
The White Light Festival is currently at Lincoln Center, and with it comes some of the most therapeutic, gorgeous, and eccentric works from across the world. Sutra is a prime example of the importance of this festival in selecting and furthering works of art that push the boundaries of convention through experimentation. Yet, make no mistake! Sutra is not a crazy commentary on society or politics. Instead, it is a calming comment on spirituality and individuality.
Sutra means a “religious discourse,” which makes sense, in title, considering 17 monks are seen carrying across the stage, and maneuver their bodies through, within, and over boxes that are taller and wider than them. The audience is hypnotized and enthralled as Szymon Brzoska’s score sonically transform the sliding of a box to be the equivalent of a planetary movement. Yet, that goes to show the simpleness of creativity in allowing the smallest details to leap like massive symbols. Stunningly created, directed, and choreographed Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, your eyes pour over as every body movement, from man to child, proves life is a shared experience.
Belief can be exuded through the body, and Sutra proves this by having dancers so precise and passionate in their movement, you feel like every clenched fist, high kick, stretched arm, graceful leap, and serene pose is a verse from a Buddhist script. Notions of life and death prop unto the boxes, as the 17 men turn them into their platforms and coffins; displaying how each individual forms a collective on this earth. We all live and we all die together, but do we ever share in these truths? As each monk moves, dances, and meditates in both literal and energetic synchrony, your eyes marvel at the mere fact that human beings can be so united. It is like watching bulbs of light unite to create a beacon, and reminding you that we are stronger together as humanity and history. The best stories anyone have fro made for their self involved others, and Sutra is a symbol of that.
Although it must have taken years of discipline to achieve such masterful dominance of one’s body, mindfulness, and radiating relaxation, for the time they are on stage, those 17 men appear born to Peace. China’s Shaolin Temple blend martial arts and Zen Buddhist practices are woven together to physically exemplify “We are all one. While the absorption of that comment seems rare, absolutely no point of symbolism within this visual and physical masterpiece would be as powerful if not for every man on that stage uniting to transcend from human to cosmic. Sutra truly is a gorgeous, serene work of art. For More Information on Sutra And To Buy Tickets To This And Other Shows From The White Light Festival Click Here.
