Move With the Times

13 dancers will enact Man-Nature relationship,accompanied by visual footage of vehicular pollution,deforestation and tsunami.

Although Nair uses the idiom of contemporary dance,his concern for modern ills is reflected in the performance of his classical counterparts. Theirs is an attempt to make an ancient art form relevant to the times. Over the past few months,dancers like Raja and Radha Reddy,Geeta Chandran and Shovana Narayan have presented shows based on foeticide,trafficking of women and environment. “It is a myth that classical dance is so rigid that it ignores contemporary demands. Classical dance has always been a medium to reflect people’s problems. A dance piece would have no meaning if it does not connect with people’s lives,” says Delhi-based Kuchipudi dancer Kaushalya Reddy,pointing out how her husband Raja Reddy tackled the theme of environmental degradation last year in “Vatavarnam”. “We showed how appliances like air conditioners contribute to global warming and the depletion of the ozone layer,” she says. And the dancers expressed it entirely through the classical Kuchipudi vocabulary. “There are mudras for the sun and expressions for everything else,including slow-moving traffic,” she laughs.

Bharatnatyam exponent Chandran feels just as strongly. Her adherence to issues like environment,drugs and foeticide over the past few years has earned her the label of a dance activist,but she says that she is merely reflecting the world in her choreographies. Her last work “Unurth” premiered in Kolkata in April. “It dealt with the trafficking of women and I researched extensively for it,visiting the tiny rooms where women were holed up,talking to victims and trying to hide my tears when I saw cigarette burn marks on young girls,” she recalls. The pain and anger found reflection in a 20-minute performance in which she told the story of a girl whose childhood ends when her father sells her. Chandran got her reward at the end of the piece—nobody clapped. “I would have been very insulted if they had. Everybody was meant to be shell-shocked,” she says.

For Narayan,one of Kathak’s famous faces,the woman’s world is constantly intriguing. Her performance on Mother’s Day was called “Bhru ki Pukaar” and drew attention to the fact that an expectant mother needs to take care of herself. “In the piece,the foetus tells the mother that unless she eats well,takes her medicines on time and stays happy,the baby would not be healthy,” says Narayan. It was a message that she is sure stayed with the audience,long after the sounds of ghungroos faded away.