‘Tales from the Bull and the Tiger’ by Celebrated Dancer Ananda Shankar Jayant

NEW DELHI:
Padma Vibhushan Dr Sonal Mansingh, Rajya Sabha MP, and her Delhi-based Centre for Indian Classical Dances (CICD), known as Kamakhya Kalapeeth, will present celebrated dancer and choreographer Ananda Shankar Jayant’s critically acclaimed dance production, ‘Tales From the Bull and the Tiger’, on December 16 at Kamani Auditorium in the national capital.

The programme, being presented in collaboration with Shankarananda Kalakshetra, Hyderabad, will be held at 7 pm. ‘Tales from the Bull and the Tiger’ has been praised as a riveting dance production, with excellent choreography, artistic brilliance and visually stunning aesthetics.

Prasar Bharati Chairman A Surya Prakash and Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) Director General Shri Akhilesh Mishra will grace the occasion as Honoured Guests.

“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 Ananda, a winner of the Padma Shri and Sangeet Natak Akademi award and an acclaimed TED speaker. “My years of yearning to encapsulate Him in a dance production led to the Tales from the Bull and the Tiger.”

The latest path-breaking dance production, the 26th in the series from the repertoire of Shankarananda Kalakshetra, is performed by a vibrant ensemble cast of 20 dancers, with brilliant Bengaluru dancer Mithun Shyam as Guest artist in the lead along with Ananda. It has musical soundscape by Sathiraju Venumadhav, costume design by Ganesh Nallari, lights by Gyandev Singh, and digital design by Gunjan Ashtaputre.

Praised by noted art critic Sunil Kothari as ‘a riveting production’, ‘Tales from the Bull and the Tiger’ was earlier presented in Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, winning the plaudits from viewers and critics alike. After the Delhi show, it is scheduled at Mumbai and Pune over the next few months.

“The dance production is a result of years of painstaking research and months of rigorous rehearsals, and marks the year-long celebrations of the 40th anniversary of Shankarananda Kalakshetra,” said the danseuse, a Padmashri and Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee, an inspirational TED speaker and an arts entrepreneur.

The viewers will be treated to fascinating tales through brilliant narratives, as these bring to life centuries of knowledge, wisdom, philosophy, poetry and music.

In its 40 years of existence, Shankarananda Kalakshetra has emerged as a pre-eminent national 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, even as it continues to train young aspirants in Bharatanatyam in Hyderabad.

It is also a pioneer of arts in the digital space by creating a first-of-its-kind Bharanatyam practice app, named ‘Natyarambha’ (www.natyarambha.com ), which was launched in 2017 and is now followed across the world.

‘Tales from the Bull and the Tiger’ dance recital is open for all.