Artist Shobha Deepak Singh shares the journey of Krishna woven with an array of tales, beliefs, and myths. She presents his teachings through traditional dance forms like Mayurbhanj, Chhau and Kalaripayattu. By Sakshi Sharma

Whether it is Krishna’s joyous years of childhood or the antics he played while growing up, his romance with nature and his compassion for everything that had life or eventually attaining the stage of human adoration, classical dancer Shobha Deepak Singh brings his journey on stage through scenes which will take you back to his various folk lores. And what better an occasion than Janmashtami for this? The performance begins with the celebration that takes place at midnight with devotional songs, dances, aartis and rocking the cradle of baby Kanha.

In the show, which is the 43rd edition of the story of Krishna, Shobha tries to couple Indian traditions with newness and dynamism so that the audience can relate to it as per the current scenario. It is woven with an array of tales, beliefs and myths. The essence of the show remains the same, she says, but it has been blended with various things in order to make it appealing and different from its previous versions. Shobha says, “The audience wants to see something new every year while keeping the traditionality intact. So, we play in terms of the choreography, costumes and characters.” She has tried to make the choreography more vibrant and technologically advanced. She shares that this year  LED screens have been used for projection and a new audio and video-visual screen, which enhances the video quality of the show. This will give a more realistic element to the show and the audience will connect closely.

Shobha breaks the story into individual passages and then tries to set the sequence. She then checks how each sequence is different from the previous one. She is a keen believer of learning from each phase of the show and tries to improvise consistently. “As soon as the show is over, we see and analyse our performances, we check what could have been done better and then work on that,” she says. This helps them to refine their performance and become “better versions” of themselves. There are specifically some editions of the show that are loved more by the audience. She says, “I am someone who won’t stick to an idea even if it works. I start thinking about newer concepts that can enhance my show instantly after one performance is done.”

Initially, she used to do simple shows and performances as there were not much facilities or technology but the stage has travelled too far from then and evolved with each show. Shobha recalls, “When I look back, I could only remember few famous episodes of Krishna but now we have a series depicting all his stages.” She further shares that the research on Krishna shows him in two different avatars. One, where his natkhat activities are highlighted and the other, in the battle of Kurukshetra. Shobha has tried to show the same. She says, “The first half is completely devoted to his mischiefs and shows the popular episodes like makkhan chori, his fight with Kaliya, Govardhan parvat whereas the second half is based on the Mahabharata and the message of Krishna on the battlefield in the form of traditional dance forms like Mayurbhanj, Chhau and Kalaripayattu.”

Shobha agrees that along with the evolution of the story, there has been a growth in her journey too. “Initially, I didn’t know a lot of things about Krishna. But I read a lot and spent time at the Sahitya Akademi and came across new interpretations of his story. This has helped add more elements to the story and enrich my performances,” she says. The artist is all set for the 63rd edition of Ramayana starting on September 27 and 28.

(The show will be staged today at 6.30 at Kamani Auditorium.)