CHENNAI: An ensemble led by Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi artistes will be presenting a Bharatanatyam production called ‘Tales of Bull and Tiger’ at Kalakshetra on November 29 at 6.15 pm. The production will talk about Shiva’s and Shakti’s stories. These tales will be told through the bull and the tiger, which are the vahanas (vehicle) of Shiva and Parvati.
“The production has songs from various Tamil and Sanskrit texts which are weaved together. Nearly 20 dancers trained in the Kalakshetra style by me will be part of the production,” says Ananda Shankar Jayant.
Mithun Shyam, a Bengaluru-based dancer, will also be a part of the production. The production will bring out various stories from the Shaiivite tradition.
“There will be English narration to connect various stories. It is a traditional Bharatanatyam piece to the extent that the grammar is from the Bharatanatyam repertoire. We will be using digital lights, and that way we are using modern technology,” says Ananda. For her, bringing this production to Kalakshetra is homecoming as Kalakshetra is her alma mater. After a full-house and standing ovation after staging the production in Hyderabad, Ananda and her troupe plan on taking this to New Delhi, Mumbai and Pune among other cities. There is an English narration to connect the various stories.
The production will run for 82-minutes. “It took me five years of research to put everything together. I did not want to get poetry written for this. I worked with existing Tamil and Sanskrit poetry to create Simha and Nandi,” says Ananda. The programme is open to all, and entry is free.