Event Details

A Million Sitas – Contemporary Dance by Dr. Anita Ratnam & Troupe

An NCPA Presentation

Dr. Anita Ratnam is a contemporary dancer, choreographer, arts presenter, cultural activist, and art entrepreneur from India. She has a unique style that blends classical and contemporary dance forms, and her contributions to the dance scene in India have been recognized both nationally and internationally. Ratnam has founded the Arangham Trust, a cultural foundation that seeks to explore, enrich and promote the performing and visual arts of India, and has developed the dance portal Narthaki.com and revived the theatrical ritual form Kaisiki Natakam, contributing to the continuation of the form. She has won several awards and honours for her work, including the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.

While Sita has been revered as a paragon of virtue, patience, and resilience, A Million Sitas seeks to explore the multifarious identities and perspectives of characters in the Ramayana with a political lens. Dr. Anita Ratnam uses costume, sound and her signature movement style to retell the stories of Sita and four other female characters in the Ramayana – Mandodhari, Manthara, Surpanakha, and Ahalya, characters that are often overlooked despite their significant contribution to the epic.

The presentation will be preceded by an introduction by Radha Kumar, Head of Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture, and Archaeology, St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai.