Lord Shiva’s third eye has forever been an intriguing subject. While some may say it causes destruction, others are of the opinion that it is the eye of wisdom. In this dance ballet, the Nritya Vriksha Dance Group will explore the stories behind the third eye of Lord Shiva. The show is set to happen on April 6 at Rangasthala Auditorium.
This explorative of creation and destruction has been scripted by Debalina Haldar. On the concept of this show she shares, “We are trying to portray the concept of Lord Shiva through Bharatanatayam, Mohiniyatam, Kathak and Rabindranritya. While Lord Shiva is beautiful, he is unpleasant too. He is somebody who dances all the time, but he can go into a semi-conscious state as well. Gods as well as demons worship him. So whatever the universe says about him, the opposite too is true.”
The purpose of this show is to accept all the complexities of Lord Shiva by challenging our logical mind. The troupe’s only request that the audience comes with an open mind to understand a different dimension. On the kind of stories they will be showcasing, she shares, “We will start with Ganesh stuthi, followed by stories of Sati’s death, Shiva despair and sorrow, Parvati trying to revoke romantic feelings, her distress bringing destruction everywhere etc and all these stories joined together is what created the third eye. While people think the third eye was only for destruction, the eye created his son as well. All the different representation of the third eye are brought together. When we as humans reach a state where all desire is eliminated, that’s when Lord Shiva’s power drum is audible to us.”
This show, which depicts major dance forms from across the country, comes at a perfect time. The month of April is internationally celebrated as the month of Dance. This show is the perfect way to celebrate the deity of dance. “These stories have been taken from the scriptures. As Bharatanatyam dancer, I have learnt different dances based on historical literature. A huge part of our study of dance includes mythology and historical significance. It was challenging to get the stories together and to keep it crisp,” she shares adding that the show will have a lot of costumes, movement and drama.
On whether the themes they portray hold any relevance in today’s age, she shares, “Whatever we do, we do it with our logical mind. When we evolve beyond such a mind, that is when we will understand what it is like having a third eye.” Debalina will be joined on stage by Madhurima Dharchaudhuri, Ankita Dasgupta and Pratiti Bhattacharya.
Madhurima will be doing Shiva Thandava and then performing Kathak. She shares, “Thandav which depicts Shiva’s rage. It is a vigorous and divine dance that Shiva performs. It is a source of creation and destruction. I am depicting nature first as a creator and then a destroyer. Shiva is in deep rage after Sati’s death. So he casts away his calm self and transforms into a fierce warrior. He goes on a rampage and stops when Daksha is beheaded. This is the first time I will doing thandava. This dance is always done using a dance form from the south. And since Kathak is from the north, it was something completely different.”
