Welcome to Indrani Datta Dance. We wholeheartedly celebrate and showcase Indian classical Kathak dance and the works of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore.
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Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore has left a treasure trove of dance dramas, stories, songs, poems and plays. Many among these are natural partners to dance and particularly Kathak. Here are some of the key productions based on the works of Tagore where I featured as the female lead and designed the choreography and movement language. The heroines and femme fatales in these roles have different challenges but their quest for self discovery and true identity remains universal.
In the role of Chitrangada - The Warrior Princess. A dance drama written by Rabindranath Tagore in 1892. She is mentioned in epic Mahabharata as a warrior princess of Manipur, who fell in love with Arjuna and sought a boon from Madan the God of Love who transformed her. Arjuna fell in love with this new version and after a year of this boon Chitrangada herself chose to return to her original self and reveal to Arjuna her true identity.
In the role of Princess Kamalika in Shapmochan - The Curse Redemption written by Rabindranath Tagore . A heavenly couple are cursed in the earthly form of beautiful Kamalika and scarred Aruneshwar who hides himself in the day and only meets Kamalika at night. When finally she sees him in the light she flees horrified. Isolated in the woods she later realises his true love and inner beauty and follows the sound of his Veena. This realisation breaks the curse and reunites them in their former selves.
In the role of Shyama. Performance of dance drama Shyama. This is Tagore’s tragic tale of a palace courtesan who falls in love with noble Bajrasena, a merchant wrongly accused of treason. To save him she allows a young boy to take the blame and sacrifice his life. When Bajrasena discovers this he rejects hers with a broken heart leaving her shattered.
Bhanusingher Padavali. A selection of compositions by Rabindranath Tagore using the moniker Bhanusingh where he penned divine and romantic songs about Lord Krishna and Radha and their eternal love. The choreography includes Kathak solos and ensembles and also other classical dance forms.
In the role of Horotoni / Queen of Hearts in Tasher Desh (Kingdom of Cards) written in 1933 by Rabindranath Tagore. This is a political and fantastical story of freedom and self expression. A prince and merchant find themselves shipwrecked in a country where the inhabitants are all card people and bound by strange rules. With the prince’s persuasion the inhabitants one of one become humans and find their self expression.
In the role of Irani in Kshudhita Pashaan (The Hungry Stones). A young tax collector posted in a small town decides to reside in an abandoned old palace which is haunted. Local people warned him that those have attempted to stay there, either gone mad or dead because the stones of the building are hungry. He realizes a mysterious and beautiful lady roams in the building at night and falls in love with her not knowing her tragic story.
