Dancer Geeta Chandran Takes RAVANA To Chennai And Puducherry

Dancer Geeta Chandran will showcase her thrilling RAVANA choreography at the upcoming Marghazi Cultural Season in Chennai.

A renowned artist who has synthesised the knowledge she received from her Gurus to imprint Bharatanatyam with her personal vision of the dance, in Geeta Chandran's dance presentations she skilfully weaves abstract notions of Joy, Beauty, Values, Aspirations, Myth and Spirituality.

The danseuse who is this year's winner of the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi award for Bharatanatyam, says that her Ravana work is part of her effort to free our myths of stigma and burden.

Can we move beyond stereotypes? This is the key question in (Padmashri) Geeta Chandran's Ravana, who is the hero of Geeta's abhinaya.

The King of Lanka, was known in all three worlds as an exemplar Shiva Bhakta. And yet, is universally condemned as a contemptible and monstrous villain.

In creating RAVANA, Geeta was assisted by Sanskrit scholar Sudhamahi Regunathan. As they jointly explored Valmiki's RAMAYANA, shades of Ravana emerged that give him a more human touch. Thus in Geeta's choreography Ravana emerges as a man in hero in love, even though the object of his affection is the woman he had forcibly abducted!

In the incident that Geeta has chosen to recreate, Ravana, after his ritual bath and Shiva pooja, adorns himself and goes to meet Sita, Rama's wife, whom he is holding captive.

As he sees Sita, he says that his eyes get stuck on every detail of her beauty. If each part bewitches him so, the power of the entire persona of Sita would be thrillingly unimaginable. If he cannot handle even a part of Sita, however will he ever manage to engage the whole!

Geeta's RAVANA can be viewed at the Sri Krishna Gana Sabha in Chennai on 28 December at 7 p.m.

In Puducherry, on 30 December, at the Gratitude Heritage, #52 Romain Rolland Street, Puducherry, 7 p.m.

And on 2 January, at SPACES, #1 Elliots Beach Road, Besant Nagar, Chennai, 7 p.m.

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