An across-the-border dance collaboration

Shamitha Hettige and Vithya Arasu will perform Anurakti at Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Anurakti, an Indo-Srilankan dance production by the rising choreographer-dancer couple Shamitha Hettige and Vithya Arasu is set to be staged in Bengaluru on August 26 at the Yuva Patha auditorium, Jayanagar, as part of the Aaveshika Yatra Festival – 2023, and in Hyderabad on September 2 at the Phoenix Arena, Hitech City.

Anurakti is a Sanskrit word that connotes love and devotion. During a conversation with the artistes, the story of this collaboration unfolded. The essence of Anurakti resonates in many ways in the themes chosen for stage and in the artistic process off-stage as well.

Vithya Arasu.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

First collaboration

Shamitha Hettige is a Kandyan and contemporary dancer while Vithya Arasu is a Bharatanatyam, Bharatanrityam and Odissi dancer. . As their wedding date was drawing near, the two were also planning their first collaboration, Anurakti, on the theme of Shiva-Parvati. As its first piece, they chose the Shiva Tandav stotra. Though the stotra has been composed by many musicians and performed by several dancers before, the duo was keen to work on its own interpretation, both in music and choreography. From their home in Colombo, they started working with classical and folk musicians in Srilanka and India and after multiple iterations and many months, they arrived at a composition that they were excited about. It uses Srilankan rhythm patterns and Carnatic music and was first choreographed and performed as a 15-minute piece.

Upon returning from their wedding, they worked on the second piece centred on Parvati – the Omkar Karini. For the third and final piece, they chose the Ardhanarishwara stotra. As the duo discovered Shiva-Parvati, they found that their interpretation was not so much a praise of Shiva or Parvati, it was an interplay between spouses, a conversation between powerful characters, an interaction between two forces of nature, with themes of romance and resistance, teasing and reasoning, admiration as well as surrender . The choreography and rehearsal was a learning and teaching experience for both, as they exchanged expertise from each other’s past training.

Shamitha Hettige.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Seamless synergy

The final production brings together Bharatanatyam, Odissi, Mohiniattam, Vilasini Natyam, Mayurbhanj Chhau from India, and Kandyan, Sambaragamua natum and Pahatarata natum dance styles from Srilanka. A variety of musical instruments such as the veena, flute, mridangam, kanjira from India and geta beraya, pahatharata beraya, thammettama, udekkiya, daula, gehula from Srilanka have also come to be used.

On being asked why they chose to include so many music and dance styles in a single production, the answer was quick and simple. “(Between the two of us) we have trained in all these styles and at every point, we chose the styles that came to us naturally, as we sat in silence and listened to the music.” At the point where years of training turns to intuition and there’s no real answer to ‘why this?’, art and collaboration emerge and so it seems with this production.

Shamitha and Vithya have staged Anurakti at different venues and festivals including Nritya Samarpana Dance festival in Coimbatore, Tantrotsav festival in Puducherry and at the Kapaleeshwarar temple in Chennai. In October this year, they will be performing Anurakti in Germany, Switzerland, Spain and the Netherlands.

Dance workshops

In a new form of collaboration, they will be bringing their students from Europe to be part of their presentation. They speak passionately about teaching and wherever they travel, they also conduct workshops alongside their performances. How to approach movement mindfully with breath technique? How to improve stage awareness? How to build strength, flexibility, mobility, control and maintain stability of the body and mind as an artiste? These are some of the questions that they have addressed in designing their ‘Anga Pravaaha’ workshops.

Between August 26 and September 2, Shamitha and Vithya will be conducting Anga Pravaaha and Natyashastra workshops in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Delhi, Pune and Mumbai. In Hyderabad, they will also be teaching a workshop for children where they will introduce them to Indian classical dance through the grammar of animal movements. The duo have been lauded for their finesse of form, strength and grace of movement as performers and for their nuanced and dedicated approach to teaching.

Glimpses of their dance, their dance school ‘Natya Kala Vidyalaya’, details about workshop registrations and donour passes for Anurakti can be found on their social media handles.