BANGALORE: It was during the monsoon of 2013 that Ashwini Raghupathy fell in love with the rains all over again. “I was in Kerala then and I decided not to run away from the rains. I chose to dance in them instead,” she says. And then one day the Odissi dancer let her inhibitions go. In her resort in Kanhangad, she danced as the rain poured. The performance was videographed and shared extensively online.
This year, the dancer wants to recreate the magic in the city. And so, MG Road Boulevard will see a unique dance festival, Monsoon Muse, on Sunday evening.
“The dance festival celebrates Indian monsoon. It is about the smell of wet earth, the colours of the cloud laden sky, the winds caressing your face, the inexplicable emotions that are stirred in your heart when it rains. There are a few monsoon dance and music festivals, but strangely, they are all performed inside stuffy auditoriums. But we will explore public spaces through our performances. Instead of having people walk into an auditorium, we are planning to perform in open spaces in the midst of people,” says Ashwini.
After its launch at the Boulevard on Sunday, the festival will travel across the city, traversing parks, temples and market places. “All spaces have been chosen for their significance to Bangalore. However, if someone wrote to us requesting that the festival be showcased in a place of their choice and it sounds exciting to us, we would love to be there,” she adds.
More than 15 dancers will perform at the festival. Apart from Ashwini’s dance academy, dancers from Piah Dance Company and Aayana Dance Company will bring different dance forms to the stage.
The concept of the festival has already started garnering attention. Says Ashwini, “A temple in a small village near Shimoga heard of what we are doing and wrote to me asking if we would take the festival there. We will be taking Monsoon Muse to other parts of India too and I’m really happy to have a group of such fun, crazy dancers to share this awesome journey with!”
Monsoon Muse will be held on July 27 at Rangoli - Metro Art Center, MG Road. It will also be held at Bangalore Santhe at Swami Vivekanada Metro Station near Indiranagar, 8 pm onwards.