Kathak to Arican-American Poetry

Four young Kathak and contemporary dancers begin NCPA Dance Week with a multilingual, cross-cultural quilt of poetry, dance, music and narratives

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Kathak to Arican-American Poetry

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Four young Kathak and contemporary dancers begin NCPA Dance Week with a multilingual, cross-cultural quilt of poetry, dance, music and narratives

It was while studying African-American poet Ntozake Shange's choreopoem For coloured girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf' in college, that the seed of Let Her Be Born germinated in creative choreographer Sanjukta Wagh's head. "Shange gives license to 'do what you want' with her poem. So, instead of writing an analysis, I choreographed a group act for literature class. That got me thinking about the voices of other women bards across the ages," said Sanjukta, at a rehearsal for Tuesday's performance.u00a0

Sanjukta has been performing Kathak professionally for a decade, under the guidance of Rajashree Shirke. She won the Charles Wallace India Trust Award this year that entitles her to a year's study of contemporary dance in the UK. Before she left for foreign shores, she decided to bring her idea to public stage. The result: Let Her Be Born, which will be staged on April 21 at the NCPA.

Sanjukta has used Shange's choreopoem as a base to experiment with poetry from the medieval to cutting edge contemporary. Collaborating with her are long-time fellow Kathak danseuses Prajakta Bhide and Neha Kudchadkar Daroz, and childhood friend and contemporary dancer Neha John. Each person brings in elements of Bharatnatyam, abhinaya (expression) and theatre, casual, classical and fusion. "We are hoping to undo the elitist tag associated with classical and contemporary dance," says John.u00a0