Blending tradition and technology
NEHA KIRPAL
A scene from Antariksha
Sanchar
Antariksha Sanchar—a transmedia dance
opera, staged recently in Delhi and Mumbai, brought together Bharatanatyam and
an upcoming adventure video game named Antariksha Sanchar:
Transmissions in Space. A collaboration between artist Avinash Kumar
(Thiruda) and Bharatanatyam dancer Jayalakshmi Eshwar, Antariksha
Sanchar was based on a fictitious story about Srinivasa Ramanujan’s
dream that leads him to build a vimana (interplanetary vehicle) to travel to
the cosmos.
Presented by Red Bull
Music, the project with hyperglobal progressive ideas, had its inception in an
hour-long performance of Jayalakshmi on Indian
mythology—depicting birds, flights and vimanas way back in 2010 and
a videogame inspired by the cultural richness of south India that Thiruda has
been working on for six years now. An eclectic fusion of Carnatic music, Indian
classical dance and video games, the protagonist of the story is Srinivasa
Ramanujan, who expounded some of the world’s most important mathematical ideas.
Jayalakshmi Eshwar played Sita, Ramanujan’s mother and S. Sushmita played
Ramanujan.
The music was set by
Hyderabad-based Murthovic, a DJ and electronic music producer from Red Bull
Music with two decades of experience in the field. The rest of the music
ensemble consisted of Raghuram Hari (mridangam), Shri (vocals), Abhijit Gurjale
(violin), Hitesh Kumar (drums) and Yanni (piano).
Divided into five
segments, act one began with an elegant salute to Lord Ganesa who resides in
the wish-fulfilling Kalpavriksha; this was accompanied by animated visuals and
psychedelic tunes denoting Ramanujan’s mind.
A man from the future
enters an old palace where he finds an ancient book. The scene shifts to 1913
to the beautiful temple town of Madurai where people are celebrating the annual
Navagraha festival hailing the nine planets of the solar system. A troupe of
five dancers perform in apt synchronisation against the backdrop of
digitised images of Madurai’s landscape—its trees, water bodies, fields, city
landmarks and temples highlighting the city’s colours, carvings and paintings.
The images are interspersed with dialogue, dance, visuals, music and
expressions that carry the story forward. A saint appears in Ramanujan’s dream
and tells him that he is to embark on a cosmic voyage in a vimana. His mission
would be to align the nine cosmic planets.
In The Myth (act
two) Sita tells her son stories of space travel mentioned in ancient Indian
texts like the Vaimanika Sastra, a Sanskrit text on
aerospace technology that describes vimanas as advanced aerodynamic
flying vehicles. She also narrates Lord Hanuman’s supernatural flying
abilities.
Act three provides
the audience a visual treat of the flight dance. Sita tells her son about a
mystical place called the Vimana temple which abounds in sculptures. The
dancers depict the sculptures through movements and poses, such as the
fluttering of feathers and the peacock vimana.
In act four, The
Contraption—Ramanujan’s magical vehicle is created with the help of the two
engines of fire and water—philosophically the two elements that help to balance
body, mind and soul. The dancers perform the Suryanamaskara—to depict fire as a
source of energy to initialise the vimana. Water, which equates
calmness and reflection, is used as a metaphor for peaceful meditative cooling
through unwavering focus and centering. The harmony of fire and water leads to
the creation of the vimana. A trance-like dance sequence for an EDM in fast
tempo is accompanied by kaleidoscopic images in the background. The use of the
corresponding red and blue lights accompanied by rhythmic dance movements and
foot-tapping musical beats in this sequence is spectacular.
The final act,
called The Pilgrimage, shows the vehicle taking off into outer
space—through the sky embellished with millions of stars and fabled creatures,
such as dinosaurs, aliens, gods and goddesses—and finally landing back on
earth. The enthusiastic dance ensemble comprising the entire troupe and the use
of vibrant colours had the audience applauding Ramanujan’s victory.
Antariksha Sanchar, which plans to
tour south India this year, is a family entertainer—an amalgam of history,
science, mythology, fantasy, dance, music, art and theatre. An original idea,
it has made a unique attempt to communicate stories of the past to the next
generation through technology. It is also a tribute to the city of Madurai—its
history and heritage; legends and landscape. It endeavours to convey the
message that each individual has to discover his or her own ‘vimana’ to find
satisfaction and a sense of fulfilment in life.
(The author is a freelance writer)
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