CHENNAI: Have you ever been to a dance performance — classical or folk — and wondered how they came up with the choreography, or how certain costumes and make-up were chosen for a dance style? If you are someone who thinks about these questions and have a deep respect and love for the performing arts, then head to Rasoham Art Room Events (R.A.R.E) on January 21 and 22, where danseuse and founder-creative director, Laasya Narasimhachari, has curated a session called Four Fold.
Dedicated to art
Rasoham was started by Laasya and her mother Vasanthalakshmi Narasimhachari in 2007. It is a non-profit arts organisation dedicated to supporting and uplifting the art community by creating equal opportunities for artistes through training, research scholarships, and affordable access to skill development. “We were doing a lot of work in promoting fine arts. Then we started it as a public charitable trust, a new avatar, which would help us further objectives – mainly the propagation of arts and allied fields. We wanted to make this accessible and affordable to all those who are interested,” she says.
Laasya’s parents, artistes Vasanthalakshmi and Narasimhachari have been running the Kala Samarpana Foundation since 1969. As a family of performers, they are quite aware of what mars the community. “We’ve been teaching so many underprivileged students through the decades. As a family of performing artistes ourselves, we know this journey inside out; we know the challenges and we also know how it can be so gratifying. So we decided that we’ll put all our passion and love into an organisation that will help other artistes in their journey,” she shares.
Art Room Events started before the pandemic but were taken online threafter. Now they are launching in an organised manner. This is a space that will make one think, learn and understand, and present a deep conversation and connection between the art, artiste and audience. “That is our tagline — art, artistry and audience. Because to me, you need all three aspects to complete that experience. Now, art needs a medium to manifest itself. And the artiste offers this through their artistry for an audience to be able to access this. For me, it is not just about curating performances or performative lecture workshops. We want it to be interactive and informative, we want it to be a space where people meet, exchange ideas, and maybe even talk about our differences — artistic or aesthetic. So, this is a journey from process to performance,” explains Laasya.
Demystifying dance
The event this weekend is a concept based on the Chattur Vidha Abhinaya from the Natya Sastra. The concept says that artistic expression, Abhinaya, is of four kinds – Angika, Vachika, Aharya and Sattvika. “I wanted to place these concepts in different contexts of performance. So, Angika is about body grammar and body language. So we wanted contemporary for that.
I wanted people to understand what goes behind choreographing a contemporary piece. In Vachika, it is about speech. It would be nice to discuss it in the context of theatre, in terms of creating dialogues and creative expression. And then there is Aharya — about costume, make-up, ornamentation, and props. We wanted to discover this content in the context of Kattaikuttu/Therukoothu — the visuals in this folk art are beautiful. For Sattvika, it was Bharatanatyam. It is about expressions from within; a culmination of that experience as an artiste and the audience. There is that moment, that connects. How do you develop that connection?” she shares. These performative lectures will allow the audience to delve deep into the conversation with the artistes.
At R.A.R.E, Laasya wants to encourage real, authentic, and honest conversations. “The intent is to grow, learn, and experience this together. So, this is an unbiased atmosphere if a healthy conversation happens over sensitive topics. The idea is to come up with something constructive at the end of this. Dialogues are welcome, that is the whole purpose behind these, this initiative,” she asserts. Laasya hopes to make this a monthly event which will include conferences, workshops, exhibitions, and art and cultural tours. The Art Room Events is for anyone who wishes to experience the magic of performing arts.
Schedule
January 21 Angika in Contemporary dance by Anita Ratnam: 5 pm to 6 pm
Aharya in Folk Arts by Siruvanjipattu Seetharaman and VR Devika: 6.15 pm to 7.15 pm
January 22 Vachika in Theatre by Gowri Ramnarayan: 5 pm to 6 pm
Sattvika in Bharatanatyam by Priyadarshini Govind: 6.15 pm to 7.15 pm
Venue Rasoham, 30, Murrays Gate Road, Alwarpet Rs 350
Event pass (1 event) Rs 600
Day pass (2 events) Rs 1,000
Weekend pass (4 events)