The inner journey of the soul is a travel from the apparent to the real, from the tangible to the ineffable, from the known to a world of possibilities, imaginations and more. Antar-Yatra is about this tentative journey of conflicting thoughts and emotions in the magical world they believe in and create.AIM for Seva is organizing a dance drama ‘Antar Yatra - The Journey Within’ on July 27 at the Kamani Auditorium in New Delhi. AIM for Seva is an integrated community development program reaching out to rural and tribal children across India.Choreographed and directed by Sangeet Natak Academy Awardee Sharmila Biswas, who is also the founder of the Odissi Vision & Movement Centre, Calcutta, the dance-drama will tour seven cities including Chennai, Pune, Mumbai, Kolkatta, Delhi, Bangalore and Bhubaneswar. Antar Yatra gives the audience a glimpse into the inner world of the women dancers of India. It is about their tentative journey of conflicting thoughts, emotions and of the magical world they believe in and create.Through a collection of songs sung in six different languages, the dance-drama curated by Sharmila invites the audience to travel between the real and the make believe with three classical Indian dance forms Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi and Odissi. Elements like the multiple voices of the narrator along with the art of puppetry and Pinnal Pollattam, a traditional folk dance of Tamil Nadu performed during the harvesting season, heighten the experience of Antar Yatra.Some of the dancers who will perform are Amrita Lahiri (Kuchipudi), Lakshmi Parthasarathy Athreya (Bharatanatyam), Sashwati Garai Ghosh (Odissi), and Srijan Chatterjee. Chatterjee is disciple of Guru Arun Bhaduri and will provide a crucial support for work on Odissi music for this performance.The theme of the dance production for this year is ‘Temple Dance Traditions’. Apasara, the celestial dancers, occupy a major space in Indian mythology. The temple dancers, the court dancers and other professional dancers of the past consider themselves the incarnations of the Apsaras.They have the privilege of knowing the sixty-four Kalas. They are the Vidyadharis. They exist simultaneously in the mystic and the real worlds. They engage in intimate dialogue with the abstract and bring the essence of it to the common man. Using three different dance forms,the performers attempt to capture the life and the artistic vision and the inner domain of the women dancers of India from the past to the present.Here is a brief about the artists who will perform in Antar Yatra. Noted for her originality in composition, technique and stage design, Sharmila Biswas is a leading dancer who performs classical Odissi and experimental choreographic works. Receiver of many awards and recognition including the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2012, she has been extensively researching and documenting the temple dance traditions in Orissa.Amrita Lahiri, who is widely recognized as one of the foremost young performers of Kuchipudi, has been described as ‘gifted with a radiant stage presence.’ She has toured across continents, presenting Kuchipudi from its traditional origins to its contemporary forms. Performing Bharatanatyam for over 25 years, Lakshmi Parthasarathy Athreya is a senior disciple of Guru Chitra Visweshwaran. Refreshing artistry coupled with positive energy, Laskhmi is a front-ranking dancer of the younger generation who consistently gives an impressive performance on each stage that she takes.A powerful Odissi dancer with elegance and accuracy, Sashwati Garai Ghosh fascinates the audience with her moves leaving them spellbound. For her, dance reflects life, and it is through the prism of dance that she views the world around her.A disciple of Guru Arun Bhaduri, Srijan Chatterjee provides a very crucial support for work on Odissi music for this performance.
↧