Pravaha - Changing Canvases a performance by Vaibhav Arekar

PRAVAHA: Changing Canvases is a Bharatanatyam performance divided into two halves. The first half challenges both the dancer and the dancing body to oscillate between individual identity and philosophical concept, seeking an experiential state through unique pieces selected from the Bharatanatyam repertoire.

The second half presents a solo dance-drama called Debotar Grash, based on Tagore's poem of the same name. Within the framework of Debotar Grash, the emotional landscape of a child's innocence and a mother's love is depicted, incorporating excerpts from The Crescent Moon, 'Bir Purush/Hero', 'My Song', and 'The End'. The performance blends the idiom of Bharatanatyam with spoken words, juxtaposing English poems against the original Bengali, accompanied by Hindustani music and Karnatic percussion ensemble to enrich the audio-visual texture of the narrative.

Artist’s Personal reflection: As someone living in contemporary times, my aim is to explore, engage with, and present Bharatanatyam within its classical framework, not merely as an ancient tradition, but as a relevant and evolving art form. Pravaaha examines the continuity of this ancient art, inherited by me, assimilated in the present, and now flowing through me into the future.

I tell the songs of the past, as they live in this dancing body in the present, so as to be carrried into the future. This is what I see as a Bharatanatyam artist.

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