Through stories of Karna, Meera and Durga, Shobha Deepak Singh will shed light on contemporary issues like women empowerment
Mythological tales of Meera, goddess Durga and kaalchakra have been the subject of numerous dance recitals and yet it never loses its charm. For the 12th edition of the Festival of Ballet, an annual event of the Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra, director Shobha Deepak Singh will re-tell the immortal tales of a few mythological characters through dance. The dance will be accompanied with musical notes which have survived through many generations.
The endearing story of Meera will begin the festival from May 8. The way Meera spread the message of liberation wherever she went and the way she urged an inner awakening through her poetry will be portrayed in the performance, Meera. Shubha Mudgal’s music will help in showcasing Meera’s ability of expressing her turbulent life through poetry.
Through Karna, Singh will bring to the stage the persona of the character from the epic Mahabharata. According to her, the ballet will be a dedication to all the real life Karnas who are denied of their rightful place in society.
Shree Durga will attempt to awaken the inner goddess present within every women. Singh feels that it is only when women reach the limit of their patience that they invoke the inner shakti within them. Choreographed by Shashidharan Nair, the performance will resonate in the context of the present day, where atrocities against women are becoming an everyday affair.
Another of Nair’s choreography, Kaalchakra will depict how the supreme light of consciousness is an integral part of the Indian psyche. It will narrate the story of how the chakra begins from the hiranyagarbha to how the aatma is formed and how it travels through time till death — thus completing the chakra. Mudgal’s music will add to the sensory and visual experience of this enlightening performance.
The five-day festival will come to an end with a rendition of Kumar Sambhava, the engaging story of Tarak, the demon. The performance will narrate the myth of how Tarak was blessed as invincible by Brahma. It was when he started taking advantage of his blessings that the gods appealed to Brahma to find a way to overthrow the demon. According to Brahma, only Shiva and Parvati’s son was considered capable of the task. Shiva trained his eldest Kartikeya and he finally defeated Tarak. Barun Gupta’s music will bring in the much needed dramatic acoustics to the story and the performance.