Newcity’s Sharon Hoyer interviews Mythili Prakash on the origins of She’s Auspcious (at the Dance Center, September 26 & 27, 2024)::
How are powerful women celebrated? Who defines what that power should look like? These are just a couple of the many questions Mythili Prakash explores in her evening-length dance “She’s Auspicious,” at the Dance Center of Columbia College, September 26-27. Los Angeles-based Prakash got connected to Dance Center through Kalapriya Center for Indian Performing Arts in 2022, which flew Prakash and her collaborators out to do a tech residency while the piece was in development. Now they are back in Chicago with the final piece, which features live original music and an approach that tests the confines of classical Indian dance.
Tell me your inspiration for this piece and why you chose this subject.
I grew up in a dance school founded by my parents. My mom was my teacher and she named the school Shakti, which means feminine energy. I grew up with this sense of empowerment. The way the stories are told in Indian culture is that way, too, but if you look closely there’s a huge patriarchal undercurrent to everything. There’s one myth I’ve explored since I was young: Mahisha who was threatening the equilibrium of the universe and could not be destroyed by a man. The male gods get together and decide to make a goddess. They put together their energy: from one god comes her head, from one her breasts, from one her hips; it’s very specific. Then she destroys Mahisha.
The way we tell this story, she was the sum of their energies and celebrated. For me, I questioned. There were so many female gods in the pantheon. Why couldn’t they have gone to one of them? I feel it’s hugely reflective of society, how it determines what we look like, how we carry ourselves, what our roles are. I feel this story captures that.
