Marin based master artist,Vishnu Tattva Das has been a hidden Bay Area treasure for a number of years. this was his year to be "discovered" by more mainstream dance audiences when he participated in a program of New Traditionalists thhis summer at ODC Theater at Artaud. If there was anyone who blurs the lines of performance and transendance, it is Vishnu whose 6 foot stature can embody the feminine essence in a way that makes your heart melt.
In Dance : Dec 2008
Lily Kharazi
Arts and Culture consultant

Plenty of misses, but also some vivid hits, especially performances by local Odissi master Vishnu Tattva Das and Burma-born butoh innovator Ledoh.
San Francisco Chronicle
The best of dance in 2008 : TOP 10
ODC Theater Festivals:
Rachel Howard
Sunday, December 28, 2008

The most enchanting discovery here is Das, a practitioner of Odissi, one of India's eight classical dance forms. Two others of those eight forms, the powerfully percussive Kathak and the somewhat gentler Bharatanatyam, are well represented in the Bay Area; Das creates an equal fascination with Odissi with a single performance.
Draped in cream and red silk and silver baubles, his chest bare, Das brings to life the Hindu deity Krishna with the rise of an eyebrow, his heavy-lidded eyes radiating sensuality. His arms flow like gentle rivers; his legs move in slow-motion control; his bell-bedecked feet occasionally stamp bursts of precise rhythms. The stance in Odissi is with knees turned out (rather than knees facing forward, as in Kathak); Das makes a drama of every deep leg bend, the long pleats of his costume fanning wide with a curious graciousness.
San Francisco Chronicle
'Modern' pieces in ODC festival
Rachel Howard
Saturday, July 26, 2008

The beguilement continues. Vishnu Tattva Das specializes in Odissi, one of several strains of Indian classical dance and one that we see performed rarely in the Bay Area. Odissi, it would seem, customarily has a religious function. The style is marked by tripartite divisions of the body, striking poses and the emphasis on mudras, or hand gestures. None of those characteristics, however, explains the quiet sensation made in two solos by Das Thursday evening, despite the recorded music.
An homage to Jagannath, the presiding deity of dance (represented by a small, decorative altar), yields a sinuous panoply of extreme turnout postures, bent knees, sudden turns, vivid mimetic episodes and the feeling that the performer is moving through a landscape fabricated from silk. Wearing ornamental bracelets and a peacock headdress, Das radiates undeniable charisma, and in his second outing, his contribution comes as close to movement poetry as you’re likely to see this season.
VoiceofDance.com 2008
Triumphant Trio
ODC Theater Festival 2
Allan Ulrich
July 25, 2008

"However, it was US-based mesmerising male dancer Vishnu Tatwa Das who was the show stealer of the festival with his amazing abhinaya like his guru the legendary Kelucharan Mohapatra."
-Shyamahari Chakra
The Hindu
Friday, Jan 04, 2008

Odissi cornucopia...from Orissa!
"The performance of the session, indeed of the festival, throwing overboard conventional gender trappings, lay in the strapping six-footer now based in California Vishnu Tatwa Das (originally a student of the ORC under Kelucharan Mohapatra), presenting the erotic lyric "Lila He Nidhi". No awkward coyness here while creating a vision of a transformed, nude Radha, who after intimate moments pleads that Krishna return her clothes.
-Leela Venkatraman:
The Hindu
Friday, Jan 05, 2007

"Vishnu Tattva Das from USA, swept the audience off its feet, by his rendition of Kuru Yadu Nandana. His sensuality and eroticism was further heightened by the music, carrying everyone into a realm of divine love play between Radha and Krishna."
-Rahul Acharya & Sangita Gosain, Bhubaneswar:
Narthaki
National Festival of Odissi Dance and Music

"Vishnu was likewise a beautiful specimen of a man and a duet between him and Jhelum was a joy to see."
-The Afternoon, Bombay

"Odissi dance may seem "feminine" because it is soft and fluid, but it's not. What's amazing about Vishnu is that he tastefully brings together male and female elements."
-San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco

"It is very difficult to find male dancers, especially in the Odissi dance style, but Vishnu has acquired the essence of Odissi into his body and it is indeed a pleasure to see the physical and emotional aspects of this style flowing out with perfection and devotion. A very capable and deserving artiste."
-Smt. Jhelum Paranjape.
Founder-Director
SMITALAY, Bombay

"Watching Vishnu Tattva Das perform the exquisite and graceful dance style - Odissi, brought to the mind images of a devout bhakta (devotee) offering himself in the divine worship of Lord Jagannath. The perfection of body and the intensity of the mind with which he brings out the most subtle movements and expressions of Odissi shows his devotion and dedication to the style."
-Sri Deepak Mazumdar
Founder-Director
Shiladhish Art and Research Institute, Bombay

"Vishnu Tattva Das- one of the bright lights of contemporary Odissi dance. His passionate, spiritual performances surround the audiences with beauty taking them on a journey to a place where the pace is relaxed. His expressive style, evokes a delightful sense of rhythm and fluidity."
-Ruma Banerjee
Principle
Sur Jhankar Dance Academy, Bombay

"Vishnu dances with serenity, precision and ease of movement. For even the experienced classical Indian dance audience, Vishnu's performance comes as a revelation."
-Martha Ashton-Sikora, PHD

"Vishnu especially was so intense and moving. He has wonderful stage presence and is quite elegant, graceful and dynamic to watch."
-Stephen Siegel
Theater of Yugen, San Francisco

LINKS TO REVIEWS

www.ballet.co.uk


sfgate.com


sfgate.com


voiceofdance.com


hindu.com


hindu.com


narthaki.com


narthaki.com


narthaki.com


marinij.com


sfgate.com


dancersgroup.org


odissi.blogspot.com


www.indiacurrents.com