Mystic provides you with a sense of belonging you never knew you craved. Choreographed by Shailesh Bahoran in collaboration with the ICK Dans Amsterdam, and accompanied by the live music of the Amsterdam Andalusian Orchestra, this show is a cultural feast. The performance is almost meditative, and while the concept of the show is rooted in mysticism, I felt that it never tried to explain it—perhaps the best way to convey the universality of it all.
The best word to describe the choreography would be intuitive, as it seamlessly merges contemporary, hip hop, and subtle elements of Indian classical dance. The floor work captured my heart; the transitions were so smooth, it was as if the dancers were melting into the floor – a testament to the great balance and strength they possess. The interactive sequences between the dancers were particularly intriguing to observe, sometimes contesting for control in their quest to find the mystery, but ultimately subliming into one through the synchronous harmony of their movements. I also took note of how a particular segment alluded to the third eye—a symbol in many religions and yogic practices representing the awakening of an out-of-body experience, adding a profound layer to the narrative of mysticism.
The music was perhaps what left me speechless. The concept of bagpipes comes to mind, where they are believed to possess mystical powers; their sound is said to be the only one capable of helping a soul transcend through multiple universes. That’s exactly how I felt when I heard the live music performed by the Amsterdam Andalusian Orchestra. In several segments, when a musician took the solo stage, the interaction between the dancers and the music blended so effortlessly that it felt as though the instrument wasn’t merely breathing life into the dancers, but together they forged a new, living entity that consumed the entire group.
Drawing upon Hindustani culture, the performance included “Ras Bhare Tore Naine” (Your eyes are full of emotions), a beautiful thumari (a vocal genre in Indian classical music often used to revel and celebrate the sweetness and yearning of life) in Raag Bhairavi (Hindustani Classical heptatonic raga of Bhairavi thaat). This thumari evoked a wide range of longing and love, exploring the true meaning of life and the self. The performance concluded with a duet of two songs, one in Sankrit and the other in Arabic, and the beauty of the whole ensemble was that you didn’t need to understand the language to feel the unity, the belonging in this unknown.
The choreography started as a quest and ended in submission, an acceptance of the unknown. As the performance progressed, one thing became clear: The yearning for the beyond, in itself, is the beyond. There may be absolution, but once you truly understand, you experience the most uninhibited joy in that yearning itself. You become the beyond you seek – and that for me was the mystery of Mystic. Atulya Jain 27th March 2025
Photo by Sjoerd Derine
