BANGALORE:
Come this weekend, and renowned dancer-choreographer Dr Ananda Shankar Jayant is presenting in the city her critically-acclaimed latest production that narrates traditional Indian stories but with a surprise element.
Titled Tales from the Bull and the Tiger, the 90-minute show with 23 dancers primarily sticks to Bharatanatyam with dashes of Kuchipudi. The programme will be staged at Chowdiah Memorial Hall in Malleswaram on May 25 at 6.30 pm.
Conceived and choreographed by Dr Ananda, who is an exponent of both Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi she learned from Chennai’s famed Kalakshetra, the work has its musical soundscape done by classical vocalist Sathiraju Venumadhav, who passed away recently. Tales from the Bull and the Tiger is the 26th production by Shankarananda Kalakshetra founded in Hyderabad by Dr Ananda, who is also a top bureaucrat with Indian Railways.
Bangalore-based classical dancer Mithun Shyam comes as a guest artist, performing the lead along with Dr Ananda, a winner of the Padma Shri and the Sangeet Natak Akademi award. “Every Indian dancer, has God in her heart, seeks His blessings and will ascend stage only if He is alongside. We place Him at the core of our being, seeking His benediction, in life and in dance,” says Dr Ananda, also a motivational speaker. “My years of yearning to encapsulate Him in a dance production led to the Tales from the Bull and the Tiger.”
While the jathis (combinations of steps) have been done by IV Renuka Prasad, costume design is by Ganesh Nallari. Gyandev Singh does the lights, and Gunjan Ashtaputre has done the digital design. Visual design is by Pratima Sagar. The 2019 production has won critical appreciation.
Shankarananda Kalakshetra, now in its 40th year, has also been a pioneer of the arts in the digital space by creating a first-of-its-kind Bharanatyam practice app. Named ‘Natyarambha’, this 2017 feature has won wide following among students and gurus across the world.
