Japanese dancer Masako Ono performs at Taj Bengal. Picture by Rashbehari Das

Masako Ono, a Japanese solo dancer trained in Odissi, Kalaripayattu, Chhau, hip hop, jazz, yoga and contemporary Pan Asian dance styles was in the city to perform at the Taj Bengal recently. “What a coincidence! My tryst with India started when I saw the Taj Mahal in my elementary school book and fell in love, and today I perform at Taj Bengal,” laughs Ono.

The tall, slender Japanese lady seems a very unlikely Odissi dancer. But Masako has been a student of Protima Bedi’s Nityagram and has intensively trained in Odissi under Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra, Ramani Ranjan Jena, Bichitrananda Swain and Naba Kishore Mishra. A resident of Bhubaneswar for the past two years where she teaches yoga and Odissi to kids, Ono is on a strict vegetarian diet for her training And after an eight-hour-long day of practice and teaching, she doesn’t mind watching a Hindi movie like “Jodhaa Akbar, because Hrithik Roshan is in it!”

At the Taj’s Rooftop Terrace, Ono’s fusion dance performance was accompanied by synchronised firecrackers. It was stylistically interesting, with three main variations.

The first performance was a contemporary fusion of salsa with African overtones and was very vibrant and energetic in its style. The second performance was composed to a Haiku (short Japanese poem), Winter Butterfly Flying High in Search of the Sun.

However, the massive build-up to Prayer to the Shakti was a little less impressive, whether it was Ono’s voiceover in English in the background or the fusion excesses of Asian contemporary with Chhau and Odissi. But what was stunning was Ono’s offbeat Odissi costume with scarlet wings.

The post-Diwali performance was lit with diyas, webbing a delightful drama of light and shade.