Despite several invasions and hundreds of years of foreign rule, one thing that has withstood in India and Indians is its rich culture, be it the various dance forms, vocal music or yoga. Today, when our country is fast emerging as a global leader and a power to reckon with, what better way to celebrate it than having a show that not just includes all the Indian elements but also celebrates them.
That’s what event management company TEC has done. The organization has come up with a unique dance drama, Aaina. The one-hour-show incorporates all things Indian -- dance, music, song, philosophy and spiritualism. Being presented at Kamani Auditorium, Mandi House, New Delhi today at 7pm, the dance drama is divided into seven sections, each dedicated to one part of life.
Aaina will have 28 artistes regaling the audiences with their skills. “The planning for the show started over a year back,” says Bhuppesh Taneja, Director, TEC India. “Over 900 artistes auditioned in the first phase and from there, we gradually came down to 28 who are performing now. It has been a tough and tedious process but the journey has been interesting,” he says.
Talking further, Taneja says Aaina is a reflective journey into the ancient and eternal soul of humanity.
The first section dwells on gaining an understanding as to who we are really and what is it that we’re constantly trying to accomplish. Life is tough, more so in urban cities where there is cut-throat competition to achieve success in professional life.
The second section talks about fear. Once we have accomplished what we have always wanted, there is the lurking fear of losing it, a fear of insecurity, which makes us focus all our mind and energy into retaining our position.
Once we have managed to withstand all the opposing factor, a sense of balance is achieved. This is what the third section talks about — balance of mind.
“To rise above the overwhelming sense of fear, one needs to arrive at harmony between the inner world and outer circumstances. Balance is the key word, but arriving at it demands an intense internal struggle, which mankind has been trying to win since ages. This has been shown through the use of Chau dance form,” says Taneja.
The fourth section is Acrosutra. The sense of balance we achieve gets momentarily distorted due to various temptations, mainly desire for another person.
The fifth section talks about cycle of life, wherein a person goes in for marriage and expands his/ her family. The consummation of marriage is the time we find our minds, bodies and souls fusing with another entity, leading to bliss, which however, is not eternal. Death comes following.
But death is not the end, rather it is a beginning of another journey. This has been detailed in the sixth section. Shedding the body, the soul rises above all. Another of its journey has begun!
The seventh and the last section talks about oneness, where all souls become one. Whatever we are on earth becomes immaterial “This is what Hinduism talks about, the eternal existence and oneness of soul,” says Taneja.
While the dance drama talks about cycle of life and beyond, Taneja says there is nothing associated with religion except the section that talks about marriage which has been shown as Hindu marriage. “Rest all is spiritual,” he says.
The organizers plan to take the show to Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chandigarh and eventually go global.
A honest telling of a human soul’s tale, Aaina is a concept which will make you ponder and revisit notions of existence.
