In spring, it’s not just a young man’s fancy that turns to thoughts of love as Tennyson wrote, but everybody’s, age and gender no bar. The Vasant Ritu is when the love juice starts flowing, and it’s as natural as the change of seasons with the blossoming flowers, buzzing bees and cooing birds. It has been so much before the mass commercialisation of love as Valentine’s Day. My fancy too has turned to love as the family is preparing for a big fat Indian wedding.
It was love at first sight for the young couple and it’s interesting that in the era of matrimonial and dating apps, it was a human matchmaker who succeeded. The excitement of their ‘arranged love match’ is contagious. I am surprised how quickly we cast aside doubts over ostentation and are dashing around in a dizzying flurry of activity. We are flitting between dress fittings and sangeet rehearsals, and we are loving it.
If we are in, we need to be fully in and now is the time to experience love as best we can. In that same spirit, I watched ‘Hansika’, a unique variation of Tchaikovsky’s 19th-century ballet ‘Swan Lake’ performed in the Odissi style by the Sanjali Dance Ensemble. Based on Russian and German folk tales, Swan Lake is one of the most popular ballets that captures imaginations and melts hearts across the world.
The story is as old as time. Odette, a beautiful princess, is cursed by a sorcerer and turns into a swan during the day. Only true love can break the spell. Love does come to her deep in the forest and Odette is radiant with joy. She looks forward to regaining her original form and uniting with her lover. But their union is foiled by the sorcerer’s trickery and Odette is condemned to remain a swan for the rest of her life.
I have been captivated by the Odissi dance form ever since I first saw it performed by the brilliant and sultry Protima Bedi. As gawky teenagers, my sister and I were utterly smitten by this sensuous dance form. When I grew up and became a journalist, and Protima started Nrityagram, we met on several occasions. I found her enthralling in person but more about that another time. Hansika is choreographed and directed by Sharmila Mukerjee, founder of the Sanjali Centre for Odissi Dance which follows the Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra style.
She’s a fine artist and human as you will find out from my earlier podcast with her. As an artist, Sharmila views human beings in all their complexities as inspiration for dance. When she composes ballets, she veers towards negative characters like Kaikeyi and takes on the challenge of showing them sympathetically. Swan Lake is a simple story without many layers or complex characters. Sharmila says she was looking for stories that have a meaningful impact on audiences worldwide and thus chose Swan Lake.
The challenge she set for herself was not just adapting it to Odissi. Hansika is also an experiment in adapting ballet and libretto to the Indian world of raga, taal, laya, and rasa. The original music score and direction are the creations of Praveen D Rao who has used an ensemble of sitar, flute, vocals, violin, tabla, mardala and keyboards. His exceptional work on Hansika demonstrates why he is in such high demand. Keerthi Kumar, the Kathak dancer cum light designer, created a suitable dreamscape effect.
The dancers were captivating, especially Sharmila as the evil witch and Srijita Sanyal as Odette. The dancing leaned more towards lyrical than seductive. It however fitted well with the poignant story of longing, love, and loss. Whether in Russia, Germany, or India, these themes are universally resonant and perfectly timed for the season of romance. PS: After four shows in Bangalore, and one in Delhi, Hansika is headed to Kolkata next.
Sandhya Mendonca is an author and host of ‘Spotlight with Sandhya’ podcast.