Digital debut for dancer duo
CHENNAI : In music, Avarta is the full cycle of any taala. For artistes Renjith Babu and Vijna Vasudevan who have immersed themselves in dance and music, AAVARTA, their latest performance is a celebration of this full cycle — more than a decade of dancing together as a couple. And for the first time, the duo is going for a digital premiere featuring both their solo and duet performances. “When one full cycle comes to an end it is also a new beginning. Thus, AAVARTA for us is looking back on our journey and also opening up new doors. We are happy to share this performance with everyone,” shares Vijna.
On new platforms
The idea of AAVARTA, a digital dance recording, came to them in 2021 during the pandemic, as they were also pushed to restrict their performances, collaborations and teachings to online platforms. “We initially reached out to our long-term collaborator, dancer and academician Jayachandran S. The project flourished because of Enart Consulting run by Varsha Kumar and Jayakumar Bharadwaj. They took care of the technical aspects,” says Vijna.
Usually when a performance is filmed digitally, the performer has to always be aware of the camera. “In AAVARTA, they have filmed the performances in such a way that the dancers escape the camera eye,” shares Akhila Krishnamurthy, founder and CEO, Aalaap.
Explaining the process of shooting, Vijna says, “There were four cameras mounted in different angles at the auditorium where the performance was recorded. Everything was live and one-take. We didn’t take a pause. We went on as if a live performance was going on.”
Dedicated to dance
Both the Bharatanatyam dancers were trained under gurus in Kalakshetra style and have been performing around the world and teaching at Sãraswatham Foundation for the past two decades. Before their marriage in 2011, they did many solo performances and later they ventured out to perform as a couple. “When that shift from solo to duet performances happened, we got to learn a lot of things. Apart from understanding each other as two individuals, we also had to understand each other as dancers.
Last time I did a solo performance was in 2009 and for Renjith it was 2015. In this 12th year of duet dancing, we are re-visiting our solo performances. It is rejuvenating to come back to that space,” shares Vijna. The couple has been honoured with the NatyaRatna from Trinity Arts Festival, Chennai in 2017 and Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar by The Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi in 2018.
Since both of them have already navigated through challenges of choreographing and duet dance performances, preparing for AAVARTA wasn’t that difficult. The team accompanying them include Nattuvanar KS Balakrishnan, Ashwath Narayanan (vocal), Vignesh Ishwar (vocal), Sumesh Narayanan (mridangam), KP Nandini (violin), and Shreya Devnath (violin). As the preparations happened during the pandemic, they met almost every artiste online and it was only during the shoot, they were able to meet them in person. But Vijna affirms that the coordination with the artistes went well.
The tickets are geocoded and the performance is available for four geographical time zones. “Once you buy the tickets, you can stream the performance via Tikkl.com during the premiering dates. After July 23, there is a replay option available for four hours. After that the link expires,” Vijna concludes.
Global screening
Digital global premiere of AAVARTA is on July 15, 16 at 6.30 pm IST (other timings globally)
Day 1: July 15, 6.30 pm IST – Solo by Renjith Babu
Day 2: July 16, 6.30 pm IST – Solo by Vijna Vasudevan
8.00 pm IST: Duet by Renjith & Vijna
Tickets available at tikkl.com/renjithvijna