An Indian dance form popular in South India is among the first performances at the new dance venue of Sadler’s Wells East in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park…
ONE OF Bharatanatyam’s global rising dance stars Mythili Prakash returns to the UK for a premiere of her composition piece, ‘She’s Auspicious’.
In a wide-ranging interview with www.asianculturevulture.com, (see link above) the Indian classical dance specialist of a form that developed in South India mainly, Prakash said her new work, felt both “urgent and personal” and is addressed at a few contradictions that the Woman/Goddess trope poses.
While ancient Indian culture has a plethora of women goddesses, and respect for women is deeply embedded in Indian culture at some levels, in some parts of contemporary society, not just in India, but elsewhere societies, remain either solidly or loosely patriarchal.
Prakash seeks to question this contradiction – on the one hand reverence and devotion – on the other discrimination and even violence.
She says if audiences want to know anything about ‘She’s Auspicious’ before seeing it – their ‘understanding’ may be enhanced by the mythological tale that male gods created a woman from the male form so that a male god defeated by a female one need not feel any (greater) shame or embarrassment – and yet women Goddesses such as Kali or Devi remain hugely powerful within contemporary Hindu worship and hardly one thinks of them as lesser or ineffective when compared to male gods.
Prakash seeks to reflect these contradictions and question them.
She assembles an all female cast of both dancers and musicians – and makes no distinction between the artists.
Sometimes, musicians are hardly seen or acknowledged in traditional Indian classical dance.
Borrowing from her mentor and inspiration – British Kathak supremo Akram Khan, she dissolves any difference between the performers – not only recognising their own artistry but telling us in the interview that they too can relate to these contradictions and dichotomies – “they all have stories” – Prakash inform us in the interview.
Prakash is accompanied by Jahnavi Kalyan, Nikita Rao, Jessica Sitaramya and Malini Taneja, with Ananya Ashok on vocals and veena, Roopa Mahadevan on vocals and percussion by Aswini Srinivasan. The show also features recorded contributions by Sushma Soma (vocal), Aditya Prakash (vocal and percussion) and Sumesh Narayanan (mridangam).
Born during the pandemic when she admits she had time to reflect – she interrogates the form (bharatanatyam) which can be associated with a classical conservativism that demands women conform to the ideal of mother, wife, daughter, sister and do not “stray”.
Prakash says: “It’s an absolute honour to present ‘She’s Auspicious’ at Sadler’s Wells East. This is a work that means a lot to me – a personal reflection – a personal reflection of femininity in myth, life, and society that revels in the celebration as much as the rage underlying the experience of womanhood. Sharing space with a team of women, who bring their own embodied experiences to the work, adds to the collective experience of this piece.”
She toured the piece for the first time in her native US and Singapore and now brings it to the new venue of Sadler’s Wells East which opened on earlier this month.
‘She’s Auspicious’ represents the first form of Indian dance to be represented at this venue, just four weeks into its inaugural programme.
“It is especially meaningful to be part of the opening chapter of Sadler’s Wells East, and we are so excited!” pronounces Prakash.
Her family in the US were among the first to set up a bharatanatyam school and both her mother and grandmother perform. While she grew up learning, she graduated from university and had no expectation that she could be professional – hear her talk about that towards the end of our interview.
Listing
‘She’s Auspicious’ by Mythili Prakash from Friday, February 28 to Sunday, March 2 at Sadler’s Wells East, off Stratford Walk, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London E20 2AR.
More info/Tickets: https://www.sadlerswells.com/whats-on/mythili-prakash-shes-auspicious/
