Dancer Ananda’s ‘Tales from the Bull and the Tiger’ to stage at Kalamandalam on Thursday
Thrissur / October 10, 2023
Thrissur, Oct 10: Renowned classical dancer Dr Ananda Shankar Jayant of Hyderabad will stage her power-packed Bharatanatyam-Kuchipudi production ‘Tales from the Bull and the Tiger’ at Kerala Kalamandalam on Thursday.
Excerpts from the trailblazing work will be staged by ten dancers on October 12 at 7 pm, bringing to life Ganesha Skanda Devi Parvati and Bhagawan Shiva through poetry, music and philosophy in Sanskrit and Tamil. The venue, at the Koothambalam of the Deemed University in Cheruthuruthy, is 30 km north of the city.
The experimental production, which retells the stories of Lord Shiva and Parvathi as told by the godly couple’s vahanas Nandi and Simha, has been acclaimed for its riveting choreography backed by precision and aesthetics.
Along with Dr Ananda, the main performers are Mithun Shyam, Aditi Rao, Poojitha Namburi, Archita Bhat, Srividya Sripathi, Neha Sathanapalli and Ridhisri Yadav, besides Cameo Sreekanth on the lights.
Choreographed by the Hyderabad-based danseuse herself, ‘Tales from the Bull and the Tiger’ has its musical soundscape composed by Sathiraju Venumadhav and I.V. Renukaprasad. Digital design is by young creative artist Gunjan Ashtaputre and voice is by Jayant Dwarkanath.
Padma Shri Dr Ananda, who is the Artistic Director of 1979-founded Shankarananda Kalakshetra in the Telangana capital, is an alumnus of Chennai’s Kalakshetra and a recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar (2009). Having served Railways as an IRTS officer, her penchant for harnessing technology for the arts led Dr Ananda to create Natyarambha as a first-of-its-kind Bharanatyam practice app. The 2017-launched facility has users from students and gurus across the world.
More recently, Dr Ananda came up with cutting-edge digital product named Kutty Kahani. A video-embedded e-book that brings Indic stories by and for children through the prism of art, it caught the attention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who hailed the unique venture in his Mann ki Baat radio broadcast on June 18.
A sought-after TED speaker who actively engages with young India on a wide range of topics, Dr Ananda gives motivational talks at corporate houses, leadership programs, hospitals, universities and schools.
The Kerala itinerary, which comprises presentations in five districts, will next be held near Tripunithura in Ernakulam district on October 13. The final show in the series, at the prestigious Soorya Festival in the state capital, will feature the full 77-minute version with 23 artistes in total.
The dance production is on a week-long tour of Kerala, having performed at two venues since October 10. The first was at Pinarayi in Kannur district.
