See Chicago Dance’s Tristan Bruns chats with Hema Rajagopalan—dancer, choreographer, philosopher—and Natya Dance Theatre’s Artistic Director for 50 years prior to the company’s performances at the Dance Center of Sharīra Sharīri – Held Within on March 19-21.
Since 1975, Hema Rajagopalan—dancer, choreographer, philosopher—and Natya Dance Theatre have been exploring the philosophy of connection through the lens of Bharatanatyam, the classical Indian dance form notable for its superb method of storytelling, using the full body but particularly hand gestures, articulation of the eyes and foot percussion to communicate narrative and emotion. To celebrate Natya’s fiftieth anniversary, the company and the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago present “Sharīra Sharīri – Held Within” on March 19-21 (FREE admission for Columbia students), described as a contemporary Indian dance performance that “explores the profound philosophical idea that nothing exists independently and that every body (Sharīra) is held, sustained, and animated by a deeper indwelling presence (Sharīri).”
Natya dancers in rehearsal for “Sharīra Sharīri – Held Within,” March 19-21 at Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago.
The philosophy of connection is a through line of Natya’s extensive repertoire, highlighting the interdependence shared between people and with nature…
But connecting people is not always easy. Natya has recently incurred setbacks to their tradition of introducing international artists to Chicago audiences. The restructuring of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services by the current federal administration has prevented Natya from hiring musicians from India. “Normally the visas take two or three months,” says Rajagopalan, “but we applied in September and still have not heard from them…”
…The capricious treatment of cultural programming by the government in addition to the evolving cultural zeitgeist has led Rajagopalan to a bitter realization. “I’ve been troubled for a long time about what’s happening around us,” she says. “We don’t have equity although we are essentially all the same.” She says that, in her fifty years living in the U.S., people have become more disconnected. “So, I thought we need to make people realize that we have the same source, and we are interdependent, connected, something that you do affects me.” For Rajagopalan, the need to communicate that all lives are linked and held together by a spiritual, divine force has become more crucial than ever, hence it serves as the theme of her new work.
“Sharīra Sharīri – Held Within,” conceptualized and choreographed by Rajagopalan, tells the story of a river’s journey from its source to the ocean. As the river begins to travel, she starts thinking, “You know what? I’m the one who brings water to villagers on both sides of my banks; because of me, the trees are growing; the crops are flourishing; the vegetation and the flowers and the flora are all because of me.” Her ego is very high. As she moves along, the river meets two more rivers, each with their own individual ways of thinking. They represent the diversity of all life. The river comes to a point where there are embankments and dams, where people are fighting over the water. The river thinks, “I’m the one who decides who gets the water. I’m the queen!” But nature challenges the river’s hubris. There is drought. She is depleted to nearly a trickle, suffering and in pain. She moves forth and finally reaches the ocean and realizes that she is but a part of something bigger, that even the mighty river is connected to and dependent on a larger, living force….
Natya dancers in rehearsal for “Sharīra Sharīri – Held Within,” March 19-21 at Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago.
