Senior Bharatanatyam dancer Sujatha Srinivasan and her troupe, Shri Kalaa Mandir, presented their production titled Vivarta-Transformations on 25 March in Cleveland, Ohio to a full auditorium. It was the first half of the “Worlds Allied” programme at Cuyahoga Community College’s eastern campus. The second half featured FEAST: a ballet on the theme of colonialism and attendant conspicuous consumption in a performance that combined visual arts and ballet.

Vivarta-Transformations explored the arc of the universe and then settled to explore the consequences of human depredation of the environment. The moderator of Q&A at the end of the programme led off by asking each choreographer the inspiration for their piece. Sujatha’s answer “… when we see things, when events happen that matter to all of us, I feel I must speak out. This is my way of speaking out”—was simple and touching. That passion came through clearly and without lecturing in the one-hour production.

The story was vast – the troupe portrayed events from the great emptiness of the Big Bang through evolution and then focused on the current climate crisis. The theme is topical, difficult, and contemporary. This contemporary story though was conveyed in the most traditional phrases and forms of the Bharatanatyam repertoire choreographed by the guru Sujatha Srinivasan and her assistant, sishya and daughter, Shriya Srinivasan. Their storytelling stayed focused – the jatis between each of the five segments while technically challenging, did not distract.

The talented cast of Shriya Srinivasan, Nithya Kasibhatla, Sita Vakkalanka, Janaki Nair, Pooja Vallampati, Sudhiksha Ramesh, Sneha Upadhyayula, Yuvha Karthikeyan and Sristi Ithychanda conveyed the music and the mood – graceful in their portrayal of evolving fish, birds and animals in Mother Earth’s waters and forests, angular and terrible as rapacious exploiters of the same beautiful Mother Earth portrayed by Sujatha. The younger dancers too showed their excellent training with beautifully synchronous, crisp footwork, and the seeds of the abhinaya that their seniors displayed.

The music adapted from a production of the eminent violinists Lalgudi G.J.R. Krishnan and Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi elevated the choreography. Profound verses from the Atharvana Veda celebrated Mother Earth who nourishes all, and from the Bible reminded us that we all return to dust. The production itself ended on the hopeful note we need now, of redemption through reconciliation to resolve issues and build collaboratively. 

Apart from using the conveniences of the modern stage – good sound, and effective understated lighting to highlight the mood – there were only two other non-traditional touches. Shriya’s straightforward, eloquent narration between movements was necessary to keep a mixed audience engaged and aware. In the penultimate section, battered by exploitation and soiled by pollution, Mother Earth is roused to righteous anger. Sujatha’s voice directly addressed the audience, accusing them of doing this to her – that was an uncomfortable moment, both because of the truth of the accusation, and the feel of ‘wrongness’ to have English words overlaid over traditional Indian music. Upon reflection, that discordant note is not so discordant with the message which certainly resonated with the audience if applause is a measure. This was all-in-all an evening that led to much reflection from two very different genres.

GANGA LAKSHMI SRINIVAS

(A practicing pediatrician in Cleveland, writer and connoisseur of the arts)