That the epic as a genre has held the fascination of most artists- dancers, writers and theatre persons especially- is not something that is particularly new. Ridden with politics of gender, caste and morality, the epic offers a fertile ground for consistent debate, revisits and re-interpretations.
A taste of one such re-examination was offered recently when Nrityanjali, the dance school of Bharatanatyam dancer Poornima Ashok, as part of their 25 year celebrations in Bangalore, staged ‘Prema Prana Prahara’, a thematic dance presentation. Sita, Radha and Draupadi were the protagonists of this presentation. Their voice, their experience and their politics were foregrounded and formed the crux of the recital.
Odissi dancer Aruna Mohanty chose Sita. Envisioned as Sita’s plea to her mother, Bhumi (Mother Earth), Aruna's recital picked the moment after the defeat of Ravana. An agnipariksha had been planned to test Sita's chastity.
Take me back to your bosom, says Sita to Bhumi. Through a moving and expressive dance essay, Aruna presented the following argument: Was it Sita’s fault that she was abducted? And, if the conclusion is that she must go through an agnipariksha to prove her chastity, then she’d rather go back to earth, her mother.
Aruna’s rendition certainly showcased a heart-broken Sita, but at the same time, one could barely miss the tinge of defiance in her. The dancer carefully straddled emotions of anguish, anger and hurt making sure that the portrayal of Sita wasn’t reduced to a type.
Radha has been the subject of Poornima Ashok’s research over the past year. At this particular recital, she presented a combination of episodes from Radha’s life voiced by verses from Gaudiya Darshanam, Jayadeva’s Ashtapadi etc.
In Poornima’s portrayal, Radha was a confident woman and a jealous lover. At the same time, her unflinching devotion was not underscored. .
Heart-break is part of Radha’s story too and Poornima addressed it through a Kannada piece in which Radha wonders if she should attend Madhava’s wedding.
Gopika Varma chose the much-discussed Draupadi. The Kurukshetra war is over and Bhima drags Draupadi to the battlefield to wash her hair with Duryodhana’s blood. Designed as a conversation between Draupadi and her confidante, Krishna, Gopika Varma as Draupadi, asked whether she should indeed feel happy that her vow has been achieved or upset to see the destruction kith and kin. So is it a victory or actually a failure in the garb of victory, asked Gopika.
Defiance was much more evident in Gopika’s portrayal of Draupadi. Gopika’s recital was imbued with an anger but more importantly with philosophical and moral questions that plague Draupadi.
That there were three dance styles presenting these three characters seemed purely incidental for they became a homogenous unit despite their distinct characteristics. One would be wary of this mixed-bag format but ‘Prema Prana, Prahara’ managed to present a concerted effort. This was most evident in the thillana which featured all three styles. Odissi with its fluidity and grace joined the lines and firmness that Bharatanatyam brought to stage which in turn was rounded off with Mohiniattam’s charm and refinement.
***
This recital was preceded by ‘Shivoham’, a recital by Kalasindhu, the dance school of Poornima Gururaj which attempted to showcase the Pallakki Seva tradition. It is a story of Shiva and Parvathi and of their marriage – of Shiva coming in disguise to test Parvathi’s love. It is a story that is widely known and so it was fascinating to see the ‘how’ of the story rather than the ‘what’ of it. It was also clear that the mandate in front of the students of Kalasindhu was to present the Pallakki Seva tradition through dance and to that end, it was an engaging and well-executed performance.
