Worked at many levels

JustUs Repertory’s ‘Fire and Ash’ was a seamless blend of music, dance, poetry, visual arts and theatre.

November 27, 2014 07:51 pm | Updated 07:51 pm IST

Anjana Anand. Photo: K.V. Srinivasan

Anjana Anand. Photo: K.V. Srinivasan

“Siva, Siva, Siva!” I chanted as the curtains went up. The ambience of the stage left no doubt in my mind that the evening would transport me to the world of Siva.

A trishulam (trident) with a coiled snake, a damaru and a tambura, two long red fabric drapes framing a lamp, digital paintings on the Siva theme and three platforms, probably signifying ‘trinetra,’ all added to the concept of the evening.

In her new production, ‘Fire and Ash,’ Gowri Ramnarayan took us on a journey that extolled the concepts and attributes with anecdotes and stories of Lord Siva.

JustUs Repertory has, over the years, developed a format, a collage of sorts that brings together music, poetry, dance, visual art and theatre in a collective framework. Gowri linked together the different arts with her narration.

With her understanding of the essence of the Indian philosophy, Gowri aims at bringing the ancient to the contemporary, and thus succeeding in transporting the Omnipotent and Omniscient to the Timelessness of Space.

Gowri’s narration not only made it easier to thread together the whole tapestry, but it livened up the show by successfully communicating the deep philosophy in simple language, which at once reminds us of the role that saints and seers played in ancient times -- introducing Bhakti through the language of the common man, as against the orthodoxy of Sanskrit, which was confined to a niche audience. In this journey, Savita Narasimhan successfully wielded the paint brush digitally, even as she rendered the ragas such as Mohanam, Hamsadhwani and Behag in her sweet voice, traversing the varied regions of India, with compositions by iconic Indian poets including Kalidasa, Appar, Akka Mahadevi, Shahji Raja, Tagore and Muthu Tandavar.

The visual dimension was provided by Anjana Anand’s dance. The highlight of the show was the song, ‘Anbe Shivam’ interspersing jatis with words like ‘Katre Shivam, Kadale Shivam’ in a musical flow using voice modulation effectively, which gained a greater visual impact with Anjana’s delineation in a graceful and lyrical mode. The contrast between the music and the dance brought forth the concept of Ardhanareeshwara — the lasya and tandava aspect powerfully.

A rare composition of Surdas, which describes Siva coming to see Krishna was a delightful composition, appealing musically and visually.

The show was staged at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.

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