Margazhi Fest: Ananda Shankar Jayant and Troupe to dance at Chennai

CHENNAI:
Renowned classical dancer Dr Ananda Shankar Jayant is set to add to the festive spirit of Chennai’s famed Margazhi cultural celebrations, bringing to the city her latest production besides an earlier signature work that has also travelled round the world.

The 80-minute ‘Tales from the Bull and the Tiger’ will be presented at two venues this month-end and on the New Year Day, while the intervening evening will see the Hyderabad-based maestro and her disciples perform ‘Navarasa’.

‘Tales from the Bull and the Tiger’ will be staged December 30 at the Kalakshetra festival and, on January 1, 2024 at Krishna Gana Sabha. ‘Navarasa’ will be presented on December 31 for the Indian Fine Arts Festival.

The performances come barely a week after Dr Ananda received the prestigious Natya Kalashikamani title from the nine-decade-old Indian Fine Arts Society. Industrialist-philanthropist Nalli Kuppuswami Chetti gave away the gold medal, citation to Dr Ananda for her mastery in Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi.

The Artistic Director of the 1979-founded Shankarananda Kalakshetra in the Telangana capital, she is an alumnus of Chennai’s Kalakshetra and has won the Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar.

The artiste, who served Railways as an IRTS officer, has a penchant for harnessing technology for the arts. This led Dr Ananda to create Natyarambha — a first-of-its-kind Bharatanatyam practice app in 2017. A sought-after TED speaker, who actively engages with young India on a wide range of topics, Dr Ananda’s unique video enabled e-book Kutty Kahani found mention in the Prime Minister’s popular Mann ki Baat radio address this summer.