Winds of diversity take centre stage

A large audience gathered at the Shri Ramchandraswamy temple to watch Mallika Sarabai and her troupe perform. The expectations were high and the dance group didn’t disappoint. 

Interestingly, what served as a stage was actually a step well in the temple and the changing lights set up near the wall, complimented the dance performances. Mallaika Sarabai graced the stage multiple times and what was interesting is that one of the male performers was none other than her son Revanta. Not many knew of this until Mallika, very casually said at the end, while introducing all the artists, “this is my son Revanta.” 

The mother-son duo performed together twice on the stage which included the last act which got a standing ovation from the audience.

“I loved it,” Mallika said with a child like glee in her voice and goes on to add, “With this audience, I along with everyone in the group enjoyed performing every single bit. I was getting so much energy and positive vibes. We were thoroughly enjoying it.”

Revanta too was ecstatic about the performance as he said, “The venue was stunning and the audience was incredibly responsive, both of which always make for a wonderful experience as a performer. Dance is a passion for me. But it’s also a language I use to communicate things I don’t otherwise have a medium for,” he says.

Mallika, 64, is known to use her art as a medium to convey messages. She knows she is connecting well with the people who watch her work. “If I wasn’t connecting, I wouldn’t still be so much in demand. The fact that more and more young people in colleges call me, there must be something that I am saying rings true for them,” she says.

Having Mallika as a mother and a guru, Revanta has learnt a lot. “While I never directly learnt dance from my mother, she has constantly mentored me throughout my training as a dancer and artist. So, in that sense, I have quite clearly inherited some of her aesthetic, her values and her vision. However, in the recent years I have also been finding my own individual voice as an artist, and a lot of my recent work reflects that,” he says.