Parvathy Baul is back with the third edition of the International Women’s Performing Arts Festival- Tantidhatri, where artistes from 16 different countries will come together with an array of performances over the course of six days, on themes ranging from death and gender violence to cultural identity, war and the love of god. There would be masters classes and workshops too, along with an exhibition of Ravi Gopalan Nair and Parvathy Baul’s woodcut prints.
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The festival was inspired from the Transit and Magdalena Project, started by Julia Varley which aims at creating an awareness of women’s contribution to the performing arts. “I wanted this festival to be a confluence of tradition and contemporary practices. When I went to perform at the Transit festival, I loved how these women performed and I wanted to share it with the people of my country,” says Parvathy, a founder member of Ekathara Kalari, the organization behind the festival.
The theme for this year’s festival is Shakti, which according to the baul singer, is equivalent to the word- feminine. While most of the artistes performing in the festival are women, such as Sima Ghosh, Ana Woolf, Violeta Luna and Monica de la Fuente, among others; there are a few men too, who would be performing Mudiyettu, the traditional ritual theatre and dance drama from Kerala. "But your identity has nothing to do with what you want to perform," she says, informing us that there are some people from the transgender community too, who will be performing at Tantidhatri.
“When you see someone performing with their body, mind and spirit, it is a different experience altogether. When you see a performer’s personal journey, which he is presenting through his or her body- there is energy in front of you. Performing arts is a transmission of this energy. That is why, a brilliant performance, whether it is dance or music, changes something inside. To be in the physical presence of the performer and watching them perform is a completely different plane,” she explains.
The festival aims at bringing about a social change through drama as a therapy, as women and children from oppressed backgrounds will also come and be a part of the audience, so that they can alleviate and empower others through what they learn. "All the women here go through so many challenges. Even if one of them gets strength after watching them perform, then I will feel, that’s my strength,” she adds.
Seven children from underprivileged backgrounds will also be receiving scholarships and free of cost training at the master classes, as the baul singer feels that it is only through the performing arts that we will be able to feed our inner being, apart from the regular education.
Tantidhatri to begin on January 15 at Rabindra Tirtha,
Registration Fee: Rs 500
All pictures by Subhrajyoti Talapatra