BENGALURU: Combining oral and visual mediums of dance and oral storytelling, Dancing Tales, will put together and perform Indian stories that are suitable for both children and adults. The show will be put together by storyteller Vikram Sridhar, dance students of Poornima Kaushik, and Aparna Chandar, and her music students. Explaining this form, Vikram says, “We are looking at storytelling as a Jugalbandi of sorts — like a fruit salad.”
Poornima Kaushik, who is an exponent of the Vazhuvoor style of Bharatanatyam, says that the idea was conceived when they were brainstorming how traditional art and stories could be recovered for children. The show will feature the story of Ghatotkacha, the son of Bheema. “Using the same narrative, we have incorporated different elements into this performance, that will make it one that can be watched by families,” adds Vikram.
The idea of combining traditional art forms with storytelling is to make mythology interesting for children. “We want to show children that traditional art forms are not as boring as they think,” adds Poornima.
Aparna Chandar, founder, Dhvani School of Music, will bring in Carnatic music elements. She says, “Everything is composed fresh, even if we are using some old tunes, we use them in a new way. We are using instruments like the keyboard, guitar and tabla in a way that can be accepted by today’s youth.”
Dancing Tales will be performed at Atta Galatta, on August,11-12.