In 1857 Charles Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du Mal (translated from the French as The Flowers of Evil) shocked critics and censors. Aligned with the sensual, sinful and evil, the undeniably significant book critiques 19th century French decadence in a rich celebration of exquisite language. The poetry is a kind of malignant beauty – exactly what its book’s title suggests. For decades, the Garage International’s artistic director Shakti has worked to this theme, so the pairing of her dance and Baudelaire’s poetry in the direct and aptly named Les Fleurs du Mal (The Flowers of Evil) based on the poetry of Baudelaire is impeccably obvious and incredibly rewarding. In six dances that marry the Hindu philosophy with Baudelaire’s, Shakti is the central figure, sometimes amid two dancers who act as possible demons, however puppet-like under her control. Blending traditional Indian dance with yogic poses and breathing, Shakti’s movements are both sharp and rhythmic, possessing power and flow, a contrast of styles that feels exciting and ultimately creates a mesmerising pattern of erotica. When evil enters her body during the second dance, Shakti’s facial expressions are masque-like, kabuki-like, perhaps the Japanese influence of her upbringing. She learned dance from her Japanese mother, and her Indian father taught her yoga. While living in America to earn an M.A. in Indian Philosophy at Columbia University, she studied modern dance with the prominent choreographer Martha Graham. Given these Eastern and Western disparate influences, Shakti’s flair is a trans-cultural feast. Though she is either partially or fully naked for the length of the show, the focus is on her waving arms and flickering hands, which form recurring mudras, those Hindi ritual gestures of the body and fingers. The movement of her hips are evocations of carnal pleasure, like invitations to struggle and rapture. When the dance has finished, Shakti – a woman in her mid-60s – addresses the audience, encouraging them to ‘let the crazy, spooky out … and mix it with the joy’. If I could do it like her – at any age – I most definitely would.