The origins of Bharatanatyam are still rooted in the ancient civilization of India but the language of the dance is still contemporary and timeless .

‘Dancing Nature’s Art’ a Bharathanatyam Dance Ballet, attempts to make such a contemporary statement in an experimental Production that will explore the theory and evolution of DNA through the movement in Dance.

How does one translate abstract concepts like translation, transcription, the double helix and the DNA through Dance? Well, here is your chance to see this exciting and innovative dance production where Classical Dance and DNA come alive and the audiences will journey into the world of Rosalind Franklin, James Watson and Francis Crick as well as the theory and evolution of DNA….and more important take an artistic look at how life came into being. This adventure in Science through the medium of Indian Classical Dance and music will use multimedia and special effects to enhance its appeal.

“Dancing Nature Art” that will be performed on September 5th at the Tufts Cohen Auditorium is the culmination of an year long, bold and daring effort among artists, dancers and professors in the scientific field of using multiple creativity forms to impart education and influence teaching theory by finding correlations between seemingly unrelated objects and making them seem obvious. Ranjani Saigal, who works at Tufts University and is introducing this effort through her students, says “The original idea was to asses the value of using Indian Classical Dance as a tool to improve the understanding of complex scientific concepts. Students have learnt the material and transformed it into choreography. The choreography has used the tools of Bharatanatyam like Jathis, Hasta , Mudras and Abhinaya. Students have come up with creative ways of showing DNA replication, structure and mutation. The critical part of the whole initiative was the great team that has come together to do this including Lalgudi GJR Krishan, Prasanna , Kausalya Srinivasan and Dr. Balram Singh ".

In ‘Art as Experience’, John Dewey wrote of this unique ability of the arts to "break through the crust of conventionalized and routine consciousness." Artists, he felt, "have always been the real purveyors of news, for it is not the outward happening in itself which is new, but the kindling by it of emotion, perception and appreciation” Kausalya Srinivasan, Choreographer, dancer and a reputed teacher in Chennai and also a vital part of this production agrees, “When the idea was put forward to me, I must admit that is was totally new to me, she says, “But it was so innovative that I was happy to be a part of it. When I came here I had barely a skeleton of the entire theme. The student's input and involvement was crucial and I have to give them a lot of credit. From concepts in science, to designing a website, to choreography, they have been tremendous. She further elaborates “ You see to pick an abstract theme and bring out its meaning is very different and requires a new way of thinking. In a hour and half, we have tried to cross boundaries with a fusion of various instruments both ancient and modern, science, art and education and I hope the audience will come out of sheer curiosity and enjoy this experiment.

Dancing Nature’s Art - A grand Bharatanatyam production featuring eleven local dancers, using multimedia and special effects to tell the story of the Scientific Concept of DNA set to original music by Lalgudi’s and Prasanna

Choreography and Production: Kausalya Srinivasan and Ranjani Saigal

Dancers:
Amrita Saigal, Amudha P, Aarti Anatha Narayanan, Komal Patel , Manaswini Garimella, Megan Jayaraj, Nivedita Gunturi , Nivedita Muralidhar, , Somiya Kaloo, Vinisha Patel, Vishnupriya Samudrala.

Date: 09/05/2004
Location: Cohen Auditorium, Tufts University, Medford, MA
Time: 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm
Cost: FREE

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