This latest production by Etram Dance Academy, focuses on bringing new concepts to the navarasas

Etram Dance Academy presents Rasadrishta, a dance production that brings a modern twist to the navarasas (nine emotions) through a classical performance. Rasadrishta is formed by the amalgamation of two words — rasa and adrishta (unseen). So, the stories that will be showcased through the production will address the unseen emotions that are not usually seen in a classical dance performances. To find out more, we speak to Lakshmy Ramakrishnan, choreographer; and Tishya Khare, co-founder, Etram Dance Academy.

“We did this production online two years ago. The point was that we needed to do something during the pandemic. So, we followed a very simple format and wanted to have a very limited number of rehearsals. The online performance was at around 25 minutes but to perform it on stage, we have added more elements into it that are group-based,” Lakshmy begins.

The concept of the performance revolves around the navarasas and different stories will be portrayed through them. These stories are based on day-today lives. Even though a lot of the movements are bharatanatyam-based, Lakshmy has also used contemporary elements like speech and singing, which make the production on the lines of a theatre performance.

Talking about the changes that needed to be made when shifting from an online production to an offline one, the choreographer says, “The shift was a bit difficult. The reason is that, online, you can blackout the screen and use options like fade in and fade out but on the stage, it’s one go. The transition was something we had to work upon.”Giving an example of how a rasa will be showcased in a story format,
Lakshmy reveals, “Let’s take the example of Veera (strength or courage). For me, Veera used to be about physical strength but we wanted to break that. So, in the production, Veera is equated to mental strength.”

Also read: Melody is her muse; in conversation with Bharatanatyam dancer Apeksha Niranjan

The upcoming performance is the first production that Lakshmy has worked on as a choreographer and when asked about the inspiration for the performance, she simply states that it is based on day-to-day observations and conversations.

Talking about Etram Dance Academy, co- founder Tishya Khare says, “I finished my engineering and after that, I was only interested in dancing. We were choreographing a performance for one of our society events and that’s where I met Vandana (cofounder). There was a resemblance between our music and conceptualising, so we started working on Etram together. Vandana worked on the marketing bit while I took care of the choreography. So, it all started because of a successful event in our society. Lakshmy has some brilliant ideas in mind but we will see when we can start working on them,” says Tishya, signing off.

July 14, 7.30 pm. At ADA, Ranga Mandira, JC Road. 

Email: alwin@newindianexpress.com
Twitter: @al_ben_so