In a fitting finale to its 125th anniversary celebrations, the Alliance Francaise highlighting Indo-French collaborations screened a film ‘The Dance of Shiva’ by Puducherry-born artiste Raghunath Manet and French director Didier Bellocq on Thursday. On Friday, a Bharatnatyam recital by Manet rounded off the celebrations.
In the film, Manet explores the cosmic dance of Lord Shiva. “There are three questions I wanted to answer. Who is Shiva? Why is he dancing? What is his philosophy, he said.
The film received tremendous appreciation from the foreign press at Cannes last year where the focus was on 100 years of Indian cinema. “In the midst of stars like Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai, there I was with my small film. I think it was a necessary film, not just for the audience but for me as well as a dancer, said the recipient of France’s Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters. Manet, a veena exponent as well has performed at the Opera de Paris and collaborated with composer Michel Portal, choreographer Carolyn Carlson, Carnatic vocalist Balamuralikrishna and jazz violinist Didier Lockwood.
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“One cannot talk about dance without talking about music. If you are a dancer without the knowledge of rhythm and melodies you cannot be a complete dancer. I think it is important to be a multifaceted artiste, I tell my students the same.”
Manet who spent his early childhood in Puducherry has researched extensively on the temple dancers here for his doctoral work.
“I am training children in orphanages in Puducherry. I want to give the art back to the poor people because I believe that everybody should be trained in arts and music,” he said.
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He plans to form a troupe and perform in different places, taking the identity of Puducherry to the world.
“I am identified as an artiste from Puducherry. Earlier, when I performed in the U.S.A or Japan, people have asked where is Puducherry. Now they know. I want to contribute to the identity of Pondicherry,” he added.