An extension of last year’s project, Sandhi will include renowned musicians accompanied by four dancers. From each of these creative collaborations between a classical dancer and a classical vocalist emerge new productions with a selected text.
Antar-Prekshana
A collaboration of Hindustani classical music and Odissi
Artistes
Pt Madhup Mudgal (Hindustani classical music) & Arushi Mudgal (Odissi)
Prekshana is the process of viewing or observing. Antar-Prekshana is a production where the musician and the dancer aim to engage in the process of inner as well as inter-art observation. A deeper introspection into one’s own as well as the other’s art-form results in newer interpretations of age-old traditions. Hindustani music and Odissi dance – both are traditions rich in their form and content; the idea is to discover unique ways of looking at them.
In Antar-Prekshana, we aim to create an unusual repertoire combining various Hindustani musical forms like khayal, chatarang and tarana with traditional Odissi pieces like mangalacharan and pallavi. The musical forms are to be specially composed in a way that they lend themselves to dance and its interpretations. The two art-forms, therefore, do not work in isolation but rather engage in active interaction and exchange, resulting in a synthesized as well as coherent work of art.
Adhyatma
A collaboration of Carnatic music and Bharatanatyam
Artistes
Sikkil Guruchran (Carnatic music) & Aranyani Bhargav (Bharatanatyam)
They were hoping to explore 3 padams of Annamacharya. These aren’t the usual sringara padams but rather are adhyatma padams (metaphysical) in which the poet is philosophising, having an internal dialogue with himself – full of self reflection and doubt, he questions his relationship with the world and with god. These padams have never been explored by the performing arts world in recent history and the duo wants to put weave together the magic!
Pratidhwani, Echoes From the Palace
A collaboration of Carnatic music and Kuchipudi
Artistes
Chandana Bali (Carnatic music) & Prateeksha Kashi (Kuchipudi)
“Who are you?”
She questions the throne – the unshaken, historical symbol of power.
With half her life passed, Chitrangada, reflects upon her duties as the Queen of Manipur, wife of Arjuna and mother of Babruvahana. Reliving the crucial moments of her life, she raises questions that were left unheard.
You are the throne-inanimate
Yet, you hold kings and other noblemen as puppets on a string!
You have caused violence, bloodshed, and war
Millions of innocent lives lost in your quest
To keep you, my father raised me like a man
To keep you, I let go of the man I loved
You made me choose: to be a wife or a mother?
I could have been both, but you made me take sides
I know now, the price of power is not paid at once,
It manifests as sacrifices throughout life.
I sit on you as a Queen; living on the power you exude–
But ultimately, it is you who has ruled me all my life.
Enough now, this must stop.
I have played my roles well enough
It is time now to live for myself, as myself–
To live as Chitrangada!
Dancing Emptiness
A collaboration of Hindustani classical music and Kathak
Artistes
Bhuvanesh Komkali (Hindustani classical music) & Gauri Diwakar (Kathak)
The term “emptiness” itself conjures up a state of nothingness, hopelessness or the simple absence of everything. But when the Buddha speaks of. They talk of emptiness as a space that is utterly different (nayara) , something that is subtle (Jhini), almost beyond imagining.
Emptiness includes the teaching of impermanence, and that everything is in a state of flux. The dharma of non-attachment relates to the concept of emptiness and impermanence, as if all things are impermanent and are always changing, what is there to be attached to?
Is there a love without attachment ? …Is there a permanent beloved in the sea of impermanence? Can ‘Emptiness’ be danced and rejoiced? “Dancing Emptiness” by Gauri Diwakar is an exploration of impermanence and unending interdependence of all. With “Dancing Emptiness”, the Buddha and Kabir meet to tell the story of love without attachment, rejoicement and without indulgence.
