Eminent Odissi dancer, Devjani Sen, is gearing up to present a dance choreography titled Black and White, which juxtaposes odissi and kathakali. Two prominent female characters from mythology and literature — Vyasa’s Draupadi and Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth — will be portrayed through the two dance forms.
Devjani, who flourished under the tutelage of late Indian classical dancer, Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, will play the role of Draupadi, while the character of Lady Macbeth will be portrayed by renowned kathakali dancer Prabal Gupta, in sthree vesham, which is the female costume worn by the male kathakali performers. The duo will be accompanied by Devjani’s troupe.
“The music is composed and sung by Ganesh Desai, with Rohan Dahale playing the mardala and Durga Sharma playing the violin. They will be joined by Mahesh Swamy on the flute. The kathakali part of the performance is set to music composed by a group of classical musicians from Kerala,” Devjani says.
The dancer shares that they will stick to the traditional odissi and kathakali costumes but the common factor will be the use of shades of crimson, signifying their combined rage. When asked about how she drew parallels between the two characters, she explains, “The common thread that I found between both of them was blood (in the Mahabharatha Draupadi vows that she would never tie her hair until she has washed it with the blood of those who had defiled her, and in Macbeth, Lady Macbeth has blood on her hands as she orders the killing of the King of Scotland).”
Through this production, Devjani attempts to showcase layered female characters in literature and mythology, instead of portraying women as one-dimensional beings reduced to victimhood or villainy. We see how these women are vilified and condemned for the choices they make, when their male counterparts are often honoured for the same.