Cirque du’SAPAN, courtesy Fringe Festival.

Written by DCist contributor Monica Shores

Cirque du’SAPAN, the SAPAN (South Asian Performing Arts Network) Institute’s Fringe Festival offering, features a selection of Indian music and dance pieces strung together with the feel of a last minute talent show rather than a cohesive presentation. Computer clips projected onto the white wall at the back of the stage introduced each performer, an awkward and unnecessary choice that ate up time and slowed down the show’s energy. A dance by Bratati Saha suffered from sound problems that muddied the union of music and motion, while soprano Rimi Basu’s soft voice was often drowned out by her recorded background tracks.

Basu’s web site showcases a music video in which she dances and vamps with verve, yet on stage she seemed awkward and lost for what to do, making the audience wonder why the show’s music was so often performed without dancers and the dancers so often performed to taped music. The Courtesan Dance was a notable exception, yet even this piece featured a long pause when a dancer ran off to the wings, leaving the singers and musician to serenade an empty stage. When the dancer returned, she and her partner resumed their moves to a recording. Rangashree Varadarajan’s and Raag Hansadhwani’s separate violin improvisations, as well as Debu Nayak’s tireless tabla work, were the highlights of the night.

Cirque du’SAPAN will be preformed at the The Mountain at Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church through Sunday July 24. Tickets are $15. Upcoming performances are Sunday, July 12 at 6 p.m., Saturday July 18 at 11 a.m., and Friday July 24 at 6 p.m.

Tickets can be purchased at the Capital Fringe Festival Box Office online, at 607 New York Ave NW, by phone at 866-811-4111 or with cash only at the Goethe Institute one hour prior to performance if space is available.