MATI or malem or prithvi

In Mati we pay homage to mother earth through the songs sung down the ages in Lai-Haraoba and from the beautiful hymn to the earth from the Atharva Veda. Mati is the eternal womb from where all life has taken birth, she is the sustainer of all life. She has created the beautiful mountains, rivers and the oceans. Mati is the mother and the sky or the heaven is the father. Universal harmony is achieved through the union of Mati and Dyaus(heaven)

The relation between Mati and man is deep and personal. She has given him birth, and all the means to survive. She has allowed him to make this his home and enjoy all the beauty gifted by her.

We see this relation of man & Mati in this piece where man pays his homage to mother earth and weaves his livelihood & dedicates it to her as his offerings.

This is based on the shlokas from Atharva Veda & on the Lai haraoba style.

MOHANAM

To portray the theme of love through two different classical forms of dance Odissi and Manipuri, the colourful mosaic of these two dance forms have been interwoven into a passionate image with a strong sense of personal involvement and is directed towards both lay and educated audience with a high degree of entertainment value.

The similarities and differences between the two forms are retained and revealed through solo performances as well as the vibrant moments of their contours is presented in group performances. The contents of Champu( the classical style of singing in praise of Lord Krishna and Radha in odissi style) and Rasa (the Manipuri style of singing and dancing)have been exploited to its fullness through significant dance compositions enriched with spiritual expressions of the sentiments of Radha and Krishna as also Dasavatar, Bhajan and Kirtans.

The Gotipua (young male dancers from orissa who performed in front of the temples in earlier days and sang in praise of the Lord) and the Pung artistes (Manipuri Mridanga which is the soul of sankirtana and is performed as an invocatory number preceding the Raslila) capture the root dances of their respective styles through their pulsating performances, not simply to the satisfaction of a mere observer. They also provide the thrill and the mood of the performers through jumps, ponderous swirls as also stylization in the pattern of playing, an acknowledge attribute of Indian Dance.

The entire performance is interlocked with the music emphasizing the flavours of the particular region. It has been spirited with the aesthetics of instrumental music, songs from Maharas, Geetgovinda, Champus and Prabandhas. Incorporation of Shadow effect at the beginning and at the end of this dance celebration adds immense interpretative resources to the production.

Draupadi (working title)

Strange as it may appear, Draupadi, the most accomplished heroine of Mahabharata happens to be the most suffering, sacrificing and yet the most misunderstood character, counted among the five supremely virtuous women, honoured as Pancha Sati. In mythology, the name Draupadi still bears sigma.

Draupadi is a challenge of womanhood, the embodied form of action, knowledge devotion and power. Such a woman who has faced torment, insult, mental and emotional dilemma has not been born on this earth again.

Beautiful woman have been tormented and insulted by lust- blinded men in all ages but a bride of one's own family should be stripped before wise and learned men who keep sitting silently and gaze at her naked beauty is not written again in the history.

The plea that Draupadi makes to lord Krishna that what ever has happened in her life should not be repeated in the live of any woman, she expresses her dilemma of keeping her self indivisible at the same time being divided, she wishes that even enemies should not be subjected to grief over their sons who else would know better than her, she prays to Krishna that make women beautiful but don't make men lustful so that no other woman has to face the humiliation of being stripped in front of the court of wise and honourable men. May there be peace around the world and people do not go to war amongst themselves Oh Krishna please restore harmony as the price paid for war for pride or self respect is much higher than one knows and who would know better than her.