Have we run out of themes for re-telling and adaptation, in our classical art forms? It’s a question that arises when the idea of a character from a Shakespearean play or one from Victorian era novels is chosen for representation. And that is the thought that kick starts an interview with danseuse Rajashree Warrier, who has choreographed her latest performance piece ‘Upari – Beyond,’ in Bharatanatyam, on Tess, the heroine of Thomas Hardy’s novel, Tess of the d’Urbervilles.
Recasting Tess
“Zeroing in on Tess was the outcome of my reading experiences. My initial introduction to the character was when I read it in school. After all these years, when I picked up the novel again, I discovered a parallel between Tess, a woman in Victorian England, and the positioning of the woman in the 21st century. The parameters that measure her ‘womanly’ stature continue to be virginity, chastity, fidelity, and self-effacement. Nothing seems to have changed for the woman. Thus began my journey of transforming the original piece to draw out the layers of the woman as portrayed in the novel to connect with the present,” says Rajashree, revealing how a character grows when our ways of seeing evolve with life’s experiences.
Hardy’s heroine, as an unwed mother, as part of farm labour in a pre-industrial stage, is a constant reminder that social class binds you, keeps you fastened to double-standards, self-pity, thwarted aspirations, notions of purity, and what is ethical is, of course, decided by the man, be it Alec D’Uberville or Angel Clare.
“My endeavour was to explore and incorporate the potential offered by the character to develop my idiom in dance and body language. Hardy’s vivid description of Nature has aided me in including the presence of insects such as the grasshopper, for its meditative calm and energetic element, and the spider caught in its own web, which complements Tess’ plight. Whistling while she tries to domesticate birds hints at her venturing to do something that was taboo for the woman of her times!” explains Rajashree.
Rhythmic interludes provide the continuity for the portions that she has chosen to highlight in this production.
“Designing the soundscape was a challenge for me. It was a joyous experience to interweave measured sounds and silences,” she says. Instruments used were cajun, hapi, bongos, xylophone and melodica. ‘Upari’ was presented at the India Habitat Centre, as part of a concert series.
Rajashree is also working on a third gender representation, ‘Shikandi’ – a 25-minute piece, which “is an exercise to discover and get to the core to find a body language for the man-being woman and vice versa status.”
