Force Within

Contemporary dancers from Kerala present Shiva’s divinity through Samudra Natanam, a new idiom in creative dance.

By: Nikita Sharma

“Like Shiva, our mind and body should be free. He can’t be caged, nor should we be,” says Vakkom Sajeev, choreographer, director and principal dancer of Samudra Performing Arts from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. With co-director and dancer Madhu Gopinath, the troupe will present The Cosmic Dance of Siva at Kamani Auditorium today.

Organised by The Neemrana Music Foundation and Shriram Bhartiya Kala Kendra, the 45-minute performance will depict various aspects of Shiva’s personality — his serene, sensual, masculine, and ardhanareeswara (union of male and female) form — through various dance movements, including a tandava.

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The National Award-winning duo with their team will be performing their unique dance form, Samudra Natanam. “Samudra Performing Arts has got nationwide recognition after the Kerala Government officially declared their Samudra Natanam as a new dance form,” says Gopinath, “Sajeev and I have travelled a lot and seen a lot of performances. These experiences helped us knit this dance form altogether. It’s not just about the movement of eyes or fingers, it’s the vocabulary of the whole body.”

The Cosmic Dance of Siva will be held today at Kamani Auditorium at 7 pm. Entry free.

(The reporter is an EXIMS student)

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