Tansen on a tightrope

A balancing act between art for popularity and art for self discovery – interweaving Dhrupad compositions of Tansen with contemporary movement inspired by his life.

Performers: Sajan Sankaran on Dhrupad Vocal, Lucile Belliveau in Contemporary dance, and Ramesh Chandra Joshi on Pakhawaj, with the direction of Akhshay Gandhi

Miyan Tansen was an extremely accomplished musician, playing in the courts of Mughal emperors in the 16th century. Many know his name, but only few realise that he was a practitioner of the Dhrupad form of Indian Classical Music. This performance brings together Dhrupad music and contemporary dance in an abstract exploration of a fictional narrative inspired by Tansen’s life.

The performance – through its 4 chapters – takes us through an experience of 4 possible inner states of an artist, drawing inspiration from various features and anecdotes of Tansen’s life. Each chapter features a Dhrupad alap (non-textual improvised exploration of the chosen Raga) followed by a composition written by Tansen himself in the 15/16th century along with contemporary movement from the 21st century.

In the deccan chronicle: https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/in-other-news/030519/megh-it-rain-with-song-and-dance.html

Premiere : 4th May 2019, Shoonya, Bangalore. Concept and creation : Sajan Sankaran, Lucile Belliveau Performance : Sajan Sankaran (dhrupad vocal), Lucile Belliveau (dance), Ramesh Chandra Joshi (Pakhawaj) Dramaturgy: Akhshay Gandhi (Theatre Artist) Creatives: Rohit Bhasi (Indigoranges) Venue Partner: Shoonya Rehearsal Space Partner: Kalari Academy of Performing Arts Videos and photos : Vishnu Producer: Catastroflux, France Production Team: Still Space Theatre, Bangalore