Founder of Battery Dance Festival Jonathan Hollander created 30minute work "Shakti" performed by Swathi Atluri

Battery Dance Company from New York presented its critically acclaimed production 'Shakti: A Return to the Source' in Hyderabad on January 10 at Shilpakavedika. Founder of the dance company and Battery Dance Festival, creative director and choreographer Jonathan Hollander created this 30-minute work on the company's 40th anniversary that has since toured the US and South Asia. Sculptural duets are the centerpiece of the work, like temple friezes come to life. Music by the sonorous brothers Rajan & Sajan Mishra and their Raag Durga, wove its way into Hollander's head in 1992 when he served as a lecturer at M.S. University in Vadodara and toured India with his dance company, which then led to the conceptualisation of Shakti. The piece reveals sophisticated rhythms and choreographic invention that explains its widespread popularity.

India's own Unnath Hassan Rathnaraju is featured as a guest artist in SHAKTI, having engaged in a creative residency with Battery Dance in 2015-16, during the genesis of the choreography and having toured the US and South Asia with the dance company ever since. He will also present his own choreography in the classical Bharatanatyam mode.

Lauded for her innovative dancing style, exemplary teaching approach and meticulous attention to the traditions and finer details of her art, Guru Swathi Gundapuneedi Atluri is highly revered as a Kuchipudi Artist. She is featured as a guest artist presenting two incredible Kuchipudi solos as part of Battery Dance Hyderabad Performance night.

The Red Line, choreographed by Tadej Brdnik who appeared as a soloist with Battery Dance in 2001 when the Company performed in a 6-city India tour, is showcased on this tour, after having riveted audiences in Canada, Germany and the U.S. The haunting score by Syrian-American composer provides the heartbeat and spell-binding intrigue that infuses this dramatic work by the next-generation of Battery Dance choreographers.

Observatory by South African choreographer Theo Ndindwa completes the program with its breath-taking athleticism, stunning partnering and pulsating ensemble work. With bodies stretching to the limit, the work that has brought audiences to their feet across Asia, Africa, Europe and North and South America since its New York debut in 2014.

Battery Dance's national tour of India is presented by Monsoon Raga Foundation, founded by well known choreographer and filmmaker Shreenath Muthyala, and is a non-profit that aims to create , document and present art from across the world.