Ananda Shankar Jayant’s ‘Tales from the Bull and the Tiger’ Ballet in Raipur on Sunday

RAIPUR:
Barely a month after presenting her latest dance production in Delhi, renowned Dr Ananda Shankar Jayant’s path-breaking ‘Tales from the Bull and the Tiger’ is set to stage in the Chhattisgarh capital this Sunday, unveiling a blend of thematic and choreographic eminence.

The 82-minute show at Muktakashi auditorium (January 12th, 6.30 pm) in this city strings traditional Indian stories through 23 dancers who perform primarily in Bharatanatyam, with elements of Kuchipudi. Padma Shri Dr Ananda, who is adept in both the south Indian classical dances, has conceptualised and choreographed the work that basically features select poetry and music from various Sanskrit and Tamil texts on Lord Shiva.

“The presentation is primarily an ode to the deities Shiva and Parvati narrated through their mounts Nandi (bull) and tiger,” reveals Dr Ananda, who is also a senior bureaucrat and TED speaker, about the 26th production of Shankarananda Kalakshetra she founded in her city of Hyderabad four decades ago. Bengaluru-based classical dancer Mithun Shyam, as a guest artiste, performs the lead along with Dr Ananda.

On November 29 last year, ‘Tales from the Bull and the Tiger’, typically un-ticketed, was staged in the Tamil Nadu capital, followed by a December 16 show in Delhi’s Kamani auditorium. After Raipur, the production will travel to Mumbai next week. That show, on January 16, will be at NCPA’s Experimental Theatre at upscale Nariman Point. On February 7, in Kolwan Pune, and later in the year to Malaysia.

“Every Indian dancer seeks God’s blessings. We place Him at the core of our being, seeking His benediction in life and in dance,” says the dancer, who learned dance from the famed Kalakshetra in Chennai and is a Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee. “My years of yearning to encapsulate Him in a dance production led to the Tales from the Bull and the Tiger.”

Praised by noted art critic Sunil Kothari as ‘a riveting production’, ‘Tales from the Bull and the Tiger’ was earlier held in Bengaluru and Hyderabad as well.

ounded in 1979, Shankarananda Kalakshetra has emerged as a pre-eminent institution for performing arts, taking Indian art to audiences across the globe. Its artistic body of work spans mythologies, historical chronicles, gender issues, poetry, abstraction, philosophy and humour. The institution imparts skills to students in Bharatanatyam, music, Yoga, Kalari, Nattuvangam, costume, stage, and sound & light techniques. It has trained a multitude of students and provided opportunities in dance to underprivileged children through its outreach programmes.

In addition, it has been a pioneer of the arts in the digital space by creating a first-of-its-kind Bharanatyam practice app. Named ‘Natyarambha’ (www.natyarambha.com ), this 2017 app has won wide following among students and gurus the world over.