CHENNAI: Mohiniyattam exponent and Princess of Travancore Gopika Varma will turn Radha in Vrindavan as she performs Radha’yevide (Where is Radha?), her latest dance production at Music Academy on Sunday. Joining her will be students from her school Dasyam. Inspired by the poetry of popular poetess and social activist Sugatha Kumari, it was on her request that Gopika Varma decided to transform the poems into dance form.
The book of poems, Radha’yevide that was written 14 years ago takes on to the fictional world revealing the life of Radha after her love lord Krishna leaves Vrindavan. “Most of us know what happened to Krishna and Radha when they were together at Vrindavan but not many know about what happened to Radha after Krishna left Vrindavan. This show will tell you the story of Radha that no one knows,” explains Gopika Varma.
When the Mohiniyattam dancer read the poems that give the poetess’version of Radha’s life, she realised that the dance form of the same will need a music director.
That’s when she approached five-time award winning music director M Jayachandran to compose music for the poems. Giving life to the poems were popular playback singers Sujatha, Arundhati, Chinmayi and Sangeetha.
The dance production that was for an hour and fifteen minutes was premiered at Abu Dhabi in April and is now coming to the city.
According to the poetess Sugatha Kumari’s interpretation, Radha will be reborn as Meera, Andal and Koorooramma of Guruvayur in her subsequent births. The dance form of the poems that took one year to be edited, arranged and choreographed also has inputs from Meera Bhajans and Thirupaavai.
“Usually, it is said that Radha was the Gopi who was closest to Lord Krishna’s heart, but that is not true.
In the world of vrindavan, she is Radharani, the empress of that world marking the existence of Krishna, for she is his soul,” the dancer adds.
Radha ‘yevidhe by the mohiniyattam school Dasyam is at Music Academy on Sunday, 6pm and is open to all.
tejonmayam@epmltd.com
