Immerse in Indian arts and culture through dance and storytelling at this festival in Mumbai

Anand Satchidanandan presents Ayudha — The Divine Arms and Ramana in Chennai. Pics courtesy/NCPA

The Pravaha Dance Festival that commences this weekend in Mumbai brings together a striking mix of performances - from Gauri Sharma Tripathi and ANKH's (Amara Nritya Kala Hansa) fluid Bodyline and Parshwanath Upadhye with Adithya PV's Asthitva, to Dr Usha RK's devotional Shringara Bhakti 2.0. Anand Satchidanandan returns with Ayudha - The Divine Arms and Ramana, alongside Keerthana Ravi's Ammaiyar, Pavitra Bhat's Paalini, Taiwan's Les Petites Choses in More More Paradise, and Isha Sharvani with Daksha Sheth in KiN. With the debut of Anand Satchidanandan and Gauri Sharma Tripathi in Mumbai, the performances are spirituality woven into Bharatanatyam and the movement-driven explorations of Kathak.

Channel your inner Ramana

Anand Satchidanandan's new two-part work is shaped by a single, disarming idea. "When you're looking at yourself in the mirror, you're also looking at someone else," he says. "It's a two-way situation." That reflection becomes the entry point into his exploration of Ramana Maharshi (born as Venkataraman Iyer) - the saint who insisted that every seeker carry one question: "Naan yaar?" which means, ‘Who am I?'

Gauri Sharma Tripathi

The first half of the work examines Maharshi's inner journey. The second turns the gaze outward, towards how people, animals, and travellers saw him. The performance leans into Maharshi's belief that the mind is nothing but Maya (illusion) Brahm (delusion). "If you keep thinking with your mind, the ‘I' only gets inflated," emphasises Satchidanandan. "The idea is not even to think. The idea is to be completely still." His choreography mirrors this stillness - a quiet, slow-burning presence.

Artistes from ANKH (Amara Nritya Kala Hansa) during a previous Kathak performance

Satchidanandan explains Ramana Maharshi's relevance today, "Maharshi grew up in a convent school, fluent in English, living a modern life until he abruptly ran away at 13 to be a saint, he then rejected food, water, and speech. In a way, his childhood was very much like what all of us have had, that is what makes him relatable." Satchidanandan brings this rupture alive, along with the wrenching moment when Maharshi's mother found him transformed into an Avadhoota. Her confusion - between saint and son - runs like a thread through the piece. The final intent is bold: "By the end, I want the audience to stop seeing me at all; only Maharshi's teachings should shine on the stage," he concludes.

Body and mind

For Gauri Sharma Tripathi, dance is inheritance. "My mother, Padma Sharma ji, is my guru, and I think my fascination with dance started in the womb itself." Rhythm, breath, and riyaz shaped her early years, and they anchor her practice even now.

Dancers from ANKH at an earlier rendition of Bodyline

Her new work, Bodyline, arrives as a study in movement that flows, stretches, and softens. It stays loyal to Kathak's grammar and speed, yet slips into new spaces with ease. Tripathi calls it a journey across geographies - how the dancer moves through the world, and how, during this journey, she did not restrict her art to the stage but allowed it to unfold in open areas without limiting movement. The idea was born over time. The piece first appeared as a 20-minute work in 2022, after which she let it go. She reminisces, "Har cheez ka ek waqt hota hai, eagerly dikhane ki zarurat nahi hoti; let it simmer, let it grow, and simultaneously the context will grow too."

In Bodyline, the body becomes its narrator. It absorbs experiences. It ages, resists, and adapts. And it reflects Tripathi's belief from the time of her guru-shishya training: "Focus on breathing differently and realise how your body moves, and follow that exact path."

ON December 4 to 19; 5 pm onwards
AT National Centre for the Performing Arts, Nariman Point.
LOG ON TO ncpamumbai.com
ENTRY Rs 180 onwards (members); Rs 200 onwards (non members)