Dance Whirl

Mythology met modernity as Chennai-based dancer Anita Ratnam brought her new work,the quirkily titled Ma3KA,to the Kamani Auditorium on Monday. The hour-long piece paid tribute to the three women in her life — her grandmother,mother and daughter — by bringing alive the divine trinity of goddesses — Saraswati,Laksmi and Meenakshi. Nonetheless,Ratnam was out to have fun on stage; she wore snazzy costumes that were a throwback to her experience as a fashion model and actor,and refused to obey a rigid classical idiom. She drew on all the forms she had been trained in — Bharatnatyam,Mohiniyattam,Kathakali,Tai Chi and Kalaripayattu. The result was a dance movement that she called “neo-Bharatam”,high on energy and nuanced. Ratnam’s performance was complemented by the narrator,the ebullient Revathy Sankkaran.