BENGALURU : What better way to pay tribute to a former Indian prime minister than through the various dance forms of the country? Photographer Srivatsa Shandilya, who is also the founder of International Arts and Cultural Foundation, and his team have put together Atal Kavya Kala Narthan, in memory of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
The initiative will feature 15 performers of dance forms such as Bharatanatyam, Odissi, Kathak, Kuchipudi and Mohiniattam, who will dance to Vajpayee's poetry set to tune. The event will take place on Dec.25, on the occasion of his 96th birth anniversary. "This is a change for dancers since they are used to bhajans. Also, many only know Vajpayee as a politician. So this was a learning experience for all of us," says Shandilya.
Supported by the union culture ministry, the visual presentation will come alive with dancers such as Prateeksha Kashi (Kuchipudi), Dr Rekha Raju (Bharatanatyam), Nandini Mehta (Kathak), and Karishma Ahuja (Odissi), to name a few. “I’ve read Vajpayee’s poetry and learnt more about him. But the challenge was choosing works that had the elements of navarasas in them,” says Shandilya.
He then took the help of one of his friends, a Hindi professor, to zero in on works that would suit a classical dance rendition. But the challenge didn’t end there. In fact, it was just the beginning, because the chosen 12 works had to be set to music. Here, D S Srivatsa came to the fore. “Once all this ground work was complete, we approached various artistes from across the country. We were particular that we get artistes who perform different dance forms,” says Shandilya, who has been working on this for over four months. The poems span different genres, including politics, nature and mythological stories.
While the performances are being held simultaneously in three cities – Bengaluru, New Delhi and Gwalior – the recorded event will be streamed on social media. "I was very particular about a performance in Gwalior because it is the birthplace of Vajpayee. The performances will be held in an auditorium, but with just the artiste’s family members in attendance in light of the COVID-19 guidelines," he says, adding that, Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers, DV Sadananda Gowda, will be one of the attendees for the city event.
(The event will take place on Dec. 25 and will be livestreamed on the social media pages of the foundation)