Classical dancers still flit from Vyasa muni to Bharata muni; they continue to turn coy like Radha on the banks of the Yamuna; and in the flick of their mudras an entire ancient mythology dances. But they are moving with the times the hands that opened into flowers in Vrindavan now talk about the depletion of the ozone layer; the movements that echoed a naughty Krishnas now warn about foeticide. Dancer and choreographer Santosh Nair wants to caution against global warming. His troupe Sadhya takes centrestage at the India Habitat Centre on June 10 to present We Can Make A Difference,a piece that shows how the Earth was stripped to fulfil mans greed. Through the performing arts,we can reach both the intellectuals and the masses. Wrapped in entertainment,a message reaches faster, says Nair about the 50-minute piece in which 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 peoples problems. A dance piece would have no meaning if it does not connect with peoples 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.
