4 days ago
- Entertainment
- New Indian Express
Dancing deep into the words of Tagore
The nimbleness of nature, the poetry of emotions, the reach of the mind, the hope for evolution, and above all, a pursuit for joy that transcends earthly pleasures — Rabindranath Tagore's art and work encapsulated all these. His music, poetry, stories, thoughts, and the school he founded reflected this attitude.
Recreating this philosophy in dance would mean understanding the essence of his ideas and translating them into movements. In this, Tagore himself led by example by choreographing a dance form that matched the flowing comfort of his music, Rabindra Sangeet.
On August 8, this finesse would be recreated as the Dancers Guild, Kolkata, teams up with Kochi-based contemporary dancer Arunima Gupta to present some of Tagore's emphatic works under the title of 'Tagore Soiree'.
Described as an immersive experience through dance, Tagore Soiree will feature TagoreScape, which will interpret 'Songs of the season' from 'Gitanjali' through contemporary dance and its aesthetics.
The soiree also includes 'Tomar Matir Kanya', a reimagining of Tagore's famed dance drama 'Chandalika', whose storyline is of how a woman from a downtrodden caste finds herself awakened as she meets Ananda, a Buddhist monk. This work has sparked similar literature in several Indian languages. Kumaranasan's 'Chandalabhikshuki' is an example.
While TagoreScape is conceived by Arunima and is presented by her team, 'Tomar Matir Kanya' is being presented by the Dancers' Guild, of which Arunima was a part for a long time.
