Described as a visionary, her latest and most multi-faceted work to date comes to the home of the British dance…
MAKING a much anticipated return to the stage is one of Britain’s most innovative and forward thinking dance artists, Urja Desai Thakore.
Now celebrating 20 years of running her organisation – Pagrav Dance Company, she can be seen for only three nights at the main Sadler’s Wells venue, performing ‘ROOH:Within Her‘.
The word Rooh means essence in her mother tongue of Gujarati and the within her relates the everyday courage and resilience most women have to deploy dealing with the myriad challenges that can face them.
In her video interview with www.asianculturevulture.com, she said: ‘ROOH: Within her’ is about the bravery of women in my life, my grandmother, my mother, my daughter – who talks about bravery in very unusual ways.”
It’s about an inner strength and leans on both Tamil Sangam literature and a 20th century Gujarati novelist’s ‘Chaaran Kanya’.
But Thakore told us it is not about a high or abstract philosophy – far from it.
“It’s about the little things – bravery is about – if there is injustice happening in the family, you speak up as a woman. It about the essence of bravery within each woman,” Thakore explained.
In some senses then a celebration of Woman.
Sangam refers to the culture and literature of an early period in South India and Thakore explores a tale where a mother searches out for a young son who has gone to battle and is now understood to have died but in the act of fleeing.
“It started with my desire to work with Sangam poetry. I don’t speak Tamil, I’m Gujarati. But I was very intrigued by the poetry and it talks about the bravery of the woman sending her very young son to war.”
She spoke to her own mother – a Bharatanatyam dancer and their discussions led them to a famous Gujarati story and memorialised in ‘Chaaran Kanya’ when a petite young girl fights off a lion from attacking a village with just a stick – her bravery recounted in songs and contained in the novel by Gujarati novelist Zaverchand Meghani.
“I was interested in merging these two stories and finding ways of exploring them,” revealed Thakore in talking about how words and thoughts are transformed into a dance piece.
With help from celebrated poet and dramaturg Karthika Nair, ‘ROOH: Within Her’ began to take shape.
Thakore said:“ ‘ROOH: Within Her’ continues my exploration of Kathak as a medium for introspection, blending tradition with contemporary narratives of identity and femininity.
“There is a deep desire to tap into different literature, folklore, and my own family stories, weaving them into movement to uncover hidden voices and personal histories.”
While it is a solo work, she has four musicians (mridangam, table, santoor, flute, vocals and konnakol – a form of singing which aims to recreate the sounds of the mridangam drum) who also double as characters in ‘ROOH: Within Her’ and represent the male perspective.
“They are joining hands with the female to build a very secure world,” Thakore told us in our YouTube interview.
Not only is her company celebrating 20 years – it is represents 43 since her mother created Pagrav in India, (footsteps in Gujarati) and she carried it on, establishing it in the UK and is now based in Milton Keynes.
“I am performing after some time,” she told acv. “My mother is going to be there, my father is going to be there – it’s going to be special.”
As well as music, ‘ROOH: Within Her’ contains voiceovers in Tamil, has Gujarati poems, family dialogue and music composed by renowned musician Alap Desai.
In India there are many different forms of what is understood as Indian classical dance, Bharatanatyam is often referred to as a South Indian classical dance form, while Kathak and the tradition Thakore is associated with, refers to a North Indian classical form of dance.
Main portrait pictures: ©PariNaderi
Listing
‘ROOH: Within Her’ Urja Desai Thakore (Pagrav Dance Company), Lillian Baylis Studio, Sadler’s Wells, Rosebery Avenue, EC1R 4TN.
https://www.sadlerswells.com/whats-on/pagrav-dance-company-rooh-within-her/
