At the NCPA Mudra Dance Festival, artistes will present works inspired by the natural, the epic and everything in between.

By Reshma O. Pathare

They say you never get a second chance to form a first impression. In the performing arts, this is unquestionably true. The foremost form of abhinaya, especially in classical dance forms, is aharya or the external elements of a performance. “My content may be superlative,” says Dr. Swapnokalpa Dasgupta, Head – Dance Department, NCPA, “but if it is not supported by the right props, costumes, make-up, set design or lighting, the performance risks falling flat even before it begins.” The NCPA Mudra Dance Festival explored the theme of aharya last year, but the scope and impact of this element is so vast that Dr. Dasgupta is doing something she has never done before—repeating the theme for this year’s edition.

In addition to Kuchipudi, Odissi, Kathak and Gujarati folk dance performances, audiences can attend talks and exhibitions and participate in workshops. A guided tour of an exhibition featuring Avinash Pasricha’s iconic photographs of the great performing artistes of India, conducted by the veteran photographer himself, promises to be riveting. A Ramayana-inspired production that combines puppetry, ballet and Uday Shankar’s style of contemporary dance has met with great acclaim since it was first presented over 70 years ago. The final performance at Mudra will be Bharatanatyam exponent Malavika Sarukkai’s inventive new work.

A primal point of view

“My impulse to create dance,” says Sarukkai, “is inspired by many things—poetry, literature, architecture, Indian miniature painting, sculpture, sometimes from a research article I have read and at times from observing life.” For her latest production Beeja – Earth Seed, the initial inspiration came from a magnificent tree she encountered while holidaying in the hills. On it was a sign that read ‘I was once a seed that held its ground’. “This saying rested as a beeja within me, lying dormant till recently.” That is, until she saw some of David Attenborough’s work. “His films are moving stories about our planet and viewing them made me stop and think as he reiterates that in the last 50 years, Planet Earth has been exploited unimaginably, fuelled by the need for economic growth and human greed, instead of human need,” she says.

Having lived a life in dance has enabled Sarukkai to observe the world differently and having grown tired of ‘human-centric visions’ in art, she has now chosen to give voice to those we cannot hear. “I wished to acknowledge the lesser known but significant subaltern voices of The Tree, The Swan and The Deer,” she explains. “I wanted to centre-stage them, give them a voice and a presence in my storytelling. Being immersed for decades in the world of dance helped me see the significance of being inclusive as I believe that all life is interconnected.”

Which is why in this production, the Tree is the main narrator. “Trees have a generosity and dignity that I greatly admire, and they have appeared and reappeared in several of my choreographies,” she says. As the name suggests, Beeja – Earth Seed is about potential. “The potential held within Planet Earth, the potential of the multiplicity of life forms, the potential of the human being to nurture or destroy the planet. Beeja – Earth Seed asks questions of us, the human race. Sarukkai also emphasises the potential of the art form. “Dance in its essence is a potent language of communication. Artistes need to be responsible for what they create, for the statement their art makes. Intention felt is intention expressed.”

An innovative production that seeks to expand the boundaries of classical dance needs the right collaborators and so Sarukkai brought on board people who believe in tradition and evolution. “Artistes who respect the core of tradition with its structure, grammar, stylisation, poetry, rhythm and yet are open to bringing in new elements that the concept requires, but with a sense of responsibility,” she says.

For creative collaboration, Sarukkai turned to filmmaker Sumantra Ghosal, who has directed documentaries like Kaifinama (on Urdu poet Kaifi Azmi), The Speaking Hand: Zakir Hussain and the Art of the Indian Drum and The Unseen Sequence, which features Sarukkai. “Having worked together on earlier productions, we share an intellectual and aesthetic rapport that helps us collaborate to fine-tune the concept with rigour and empathy. In this production, he transformed dance concepts into words—bringing them alive through eloquent text and poetry written in English,” she says. “The eminent music composer Rajkumar Bharati, with his spontaneous and brilliant creativity, turned notes to music, poems to songs, and mathematical calculations to rhythmic sequences. The structure of the music compositions has grandeur and rhythmic complexities and also the gentlest emotions. Music and dance partner each other organically in Beeja – Earth Seed.”

The music for the production will be a unique combination of recorded music, with production and sound design by Sai Shravanam, and live music with Krithika Arvind on vocals and Nellai Balaji on the mridangam. Sarukkai says, “Sai Shravanam has designed an ambisonics soundscape that could be the first of its kind seen as part of an Indian classical dance production. With his gifted artistry as a tabla player, virtuosity with technology and understanding of global music, he brings to the production an exceptional soundscape recorded at Resound India, Chennai. His vision for Beeja – Earth Seed was to create an exquisite and distinct listening experience, as the soundtrack encompasses both classical and contemporary sounds.”

In a note for ON Stage, Shravanam confirms that the ‘sound platter’ for this production is indeed a novelty. He explains that ‘ambisonic sound’ brings to the audience, in 360 degrees, various sounds of nature as also harsher man-made noises. “It is first-of-its-kind in a solo Indian classical dance production. The intention of this effort is to bring an immersive experience to the audience. The human auditory system, working with other sensory faculties, brings an incredible phonological awareness by localising the direction of sound. In an era where small gadgets at home and handheld devices have the ability to produce surround sound, it is imperative that professionally crafted productions push the boundaries beyond conventional stereo sound,” he says. “When modern technology is used with responsibility and sensitivity, the end result is natural and stunning.”

Beeja – Earth Seed, which will have its Mumbai premiere at the NCPA Mudra Dance Festival, is Sarukkai’s response to many things. “The sheer brilliance of possibilities within the expanding language of Bharatanatyam, the musicality of the dancing body, the depth within the classical systems of music from India, the play of poetic maths that Indian dance celebrates, the art of accentuating stylisation with emotive depth in story narration, the ability of dance language to adapt to technology and the amazing possibility of dance language to speak in the present tense,” she says.

An ode to Odissi and Kuchipudi

The first day of the festival will present group performances by practitioners of two classical dance forms—Kuchipudi exponent Vyjayanthi Kashi and Odissi exponent Aruna Mohanty. This will celebrate Indian classical dance in its purest format along with the various aharyas associated with them. As Dasgupta explains, “Kuchipudi is known for the veni (the floral accessory worn in the dancer’s hair) and the thalis (plates) that the dancers perform on. Odissi is known for its veshbhusha (costumes) that include bright sarees made from local silk such as Bomkai, Sambalpuri or Pattasari. It is equally rich with other elements of aharya such as the silver filigree jewellery and hair adornments made from shola wood, both of which are local treasures of Odisha.”

Incidentally, Odissi is the only Indian classical dance form to use silver-coloured jewellery instead of ornaments with a gold tint—a nugget revealed by Dasgupta, who informs us that many such interesting facts will come up in post-performance discussions. “The concept of aharya will come alive in people’s minds when they understand how local merchandise came to receive commercial acclaim. Kings, on seeing dancers wear these unique adornments, such as shola wood accessories, began patronising local craftsmen, who started getting more recognition.”

Ballet meets mythology

Originally created in 1952 by the legendary choreographer Shanti Bardhan, The Ramayana – A Dance Drama in Puppet Style by Rangasri Little Ballet Troupe, portrays dancers dressed as life-sized puppets, complete with elaborate face masks, puppet-like stiffness, swift movements on toes and the jerks of puppetry style. Bardhan spent several years studying Manipuri and folk dances, and eventually worked with Uday Shankar. The production has remained relatively unchanged since its premiere. Nirupa Joshi, General Secretary of the Bhopal-based Rangasri Little Ballet Troupe, says, “Each movement, frame, beat, music, costume, mask and stage set has been retained.” The production presents the entire story of Ramayana in a 140-minute ballet and the show at the NCPA will be its 792nd performance. The dance-drama has been lauded by Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, among many others.

The costumes are entirely upcycled, a concept that did not exist in our lexicon 70 years ago. “In those days, the troupe did not have enough funds, so they used the jute bags which they would procure from the IPTA (Indian People’s Theatre Association) or Communist Party offices. The masks are made from paper. There used to be a Soviet magazine circulated in India called Soviet Land, whose pages were thick and shiny. That paper, along with cloth and some iron wire frames, was used to create the masks. Designed by Apuni Kartha in 1952, the masks are being used to date,” says Joshi. The music, by Bahadur Hussain Khan, is inspired by the folk music of the places Rama travelled to during his exile. The audience response, says Joshi, has been overwhelming every single time.

Folk forms and film songs

At Mudra, the stage will also come alive with the beats of Gujarati folk dance performed by Avani Shah and her troupe. Dasgupta affirms that aharya has always been an integral part of folk forms, with its colourful costumes and props such as matkas and dandiya sticks.

This performance will be followed by a Kathak rendition by Saswati Sen and troupe. A dedicated shishya of Birju Maharaj, Sen and her troupe members from Delhi and Mumbai will be presenting choreographies by Maharaj and his guru Lachhu Maharaj that were presented on the silver screen. “Kathak compositions by Panditji have always found immense appreciation on the silver screen. Hence, we decided to recreate some of those compositions for the festival. I should emphasise that these are not strictly film dance numbers, but rather, dances from the classical repertoire adapted for certain situations in films,” says Sen.

Speaking about how aharya will be explored in these renditions, Sen says, “Aharya is a very broad concept. On one plane, it means decoration of oneself and one’s surroundings. On the plane of abhinaya, it takes one’s body movements, facial expressions, grace and emotions to embellish the piece. Our compositions will seek to explore aharya in all these aspects to fulfil our ultimate aim—to create rasa for our rasikas.”

Beyond the stage

The talks and workshops planned for Mudra promise to provide a spectrum of entry points into the world of dance. Writing about classical dance forms, for instance, requires a specific set of skills. Dance critic Leela Venkataraman, whose works include the recently published book Indian Dance: Through A Critic’s Eye, will present a talk on how to succinctly capture movement through words. Artist Subodh Poddar, known for Dancescapes, a series of dynamic sketches capturing the essence of live dance performances, will conduct a workshop on putting movement on paper through sketches. Sarukkai will conduct a workshop on decoding aharya from the point of view of an artiste. “Aharya can embellish or be a distraction in a performance in many ways. Bharatanatyam, with its powerful language of communication requires aharya that is aesthetic, be it in the choice of costume colours, borders, costume design, jewellery, etc. The talk will be illustrated with video clips from several of my productions. Sandhya Raman, the much sought-after costume designer from Delhi has created my costumes for several years. The talk will highlight the need for creative detailing—whether in dance choreography or costume design.”

This year’s edition of Mudra will not only entertain but also provide a kind of intellectual and spiritual solace from the frenzy of the world we currently inhabit. Sarukkai says, “In the fractured and disharmonious world we live in, information floods our senses every day, interfering with our ability to empathise with each other. When an artiste working with the classical idiom presents work that is internalised, something marvellous happens. The intangible is communicated, and the audience is moved. To their surprise, they find within themselves the ability to empathise, to feel. This is critical for our lives in today’s times.”

This article was originally published in the April 2025 issue of ON Stage.