She sits and contemplates. Knotting her eyebrows together, she subsequently shifts from her seated position. It’s time to stop thinking, and start rehearsing. Precious moments have gone by in deep thought contemplating over the ugly face of caste discrimination still prevalent in the country. “What kind of human rights do we talk about?” she asks her self, not sure whether she’ll ever find an answer. Pushing away the disturbing thought, she decides to centre her focus on the Mahatma, and all the times he walked on lonely road to fight this deplorable reality. Taking refuge in his efforts, classical dancer Geeta Chandran is all set to enact some of Gandhi’s stories through her dance-theatre production called Gandhi: Warp and Weft.
Being organised on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Springdales School on October 1, she says the aim is to explore key concepts from his philosophy through the narrative lens of a female dancer in the 21st century. “My favourite section in the production is when it speaks of caste discrimination and focuses on the heinous crime of manual scavenging that persists even today. Despite all our human rights regulations and court judgements, human beings still are called to remove excreta. This is unpardonable. Gandhi spotlighted this decades ago, and we are yet to come to grips with solving this. In our ‘Swachch Bharat’ mission, manual scavenging should be at the forefront,” she says.
Abstract movement are interspersed with animated gestures embellishing the story line. Bharatanatyam and contemporary movements have been combined to present six concepts. “In keeping with Gandhi’s personal evolution, the initial sections of the choreography are based on classical Bharatanatyam abhinaya techniques. The newness of his evolving philosophy and the stark brilliance of his struggle are demonstrated through the later sections that have been visualised embracing a more contemporary choreographic outlook,” she says, believing that it’s a style of story-telling that children will understand and imbibe. Once that happens, the performance will be a success, she says.
October 1: FICCI Auditorium, Tansen Marg, Mandi House at 5 pm. For an invite, email geetachandran@gmail.com with your complete courier address.