Visualising Tagore poems

Dancing makes Arunima feel alive every moment. She owes the mental and physical discipline she has attained in life to dance, the medium that has helped her connect with people on a different level. However, unlike others, Arunima, who runs a dance academy in Kochi is also very keen on coming up with events that can initiate more people into dance. Dance A’Fair, her brainchild, is an attempt to utilise summer vacations in an artistic manner.

“The two-day event revolves around dance and how it transcends borders,” says Arunima on a phone call amid her busy rehearsal sessions. She is composing the main act for the evening. Explaining more about the contemporary piece, she says, “I am a Bengali and ever since my childhood I have been associated with Rabindranath Tagore in some way or the other. We have grown up reading his poems and other works. Now that I have completely become a Kochiite, I feel people here should get to know more about how intricate and deep his works are, which are underrated because of the language barrier. Therefore, I have chosen to depict Tagore’s songs on different seasons from Geethanjali in a contemporary dance language.”

She has been composing the event with great sincerity and care so that people here understand the content of the poems, which are only written in Bengali. According to Arunima, Tagore’s poems also have heavy imagery, which could be a reason why they can be enacted aesthetically. 

However, her biggest challenge has been to mould them into a contemporary style without losing their traditional and authentic charm. “Back in Bengal, women perform wearing white sarees with red borders. Moreover the steps are also different. I had to compose something that would be a visual treat without hampering the essence of the poems,” she adds.

For the current edition of Dance A’fair, which is the fourth one, Arunima has also associated with a Mexican-American artist who will be making a digital backdrop for the performance. Another performance, which will be held at JTPac on June 2, will be Melody Man — a contemporary dance theatre show by children. Ace artiste Paris Laxmi will also be performing at the event.

The second day of Dance A’fair will have Alloy — an eclectic collection of master classes wherein different artistes from across the country would take a series of one-hour, intensive workshops. The classes that begin at 8 am will go on till 6 pm at Hotel Crowne Plaza. Along with artistes like Megha Khatri, Shreenath Muthyala and Rahul Chhetri, the workshop will also have a Zumba masterclass by Sucheta Pal, Global Zumba Ambassador and ZES India.