International Dance Day: Explore this Bharatanatyam performance that brings Anne Frank's diary to the stage

It is not often that Anne Frank is held up as an example of the nayika in a classical Indian text ldquoBut she has all those qualities She is precocious intelligent brave and outspoken and also quite often infatuatedrdquo shares Aarthy Natrajan Today the Kalakshetra Foundationalumni will present her interpretation of The Diary of Anne Frank at a venue in MahalaxmiAnne Frank Pic CourtesyWikimedia CommonsThe story is one that Natrajan has often read and travelled with ldquoTo me the core of the story is that of a young teenage girl She grew up and lived in a tumultuous time but her view of the world is the same as that of a teenager todayrdquo the dancer shares The gamut of emotions expressed through the incidents in her diary can be expressed through the classical bhavas mdash techniques expressing emotionsAarthy Natrajan as Anne Frank Pics CourtesyAarthy NatrajanldquoYou read through the book and feel so connected to her from complaints about her mother or the curiosity about people or her little crushesrdquo Natrajan observes This is where the comparison with a nayika in the Indian classical text comes through The Nayika or the heroine is often central to every Indian epic ldquoThey are classified into the ashtanayikas according to their archetypes But in terms of age they are divided into Mugdha Madhya and Pragalbha mdash a teenager young adult and a mature womanrdquo Natrajan explains By this definition Anne Frank certainly fits the billIt would be difficult for a dance performance to do complete justice to the book This required some research Natrajan spent close to two years reading up and collecting archival photographs and documents some of which will be part of a visual slideshow during her performance The 40yearold Natrajan adopted four key parts from the book mdash Frankrsquos friendships her parentsrsquo callup the intense Holocaust and her optimism to finish with ldquoI did not want to use lyrical songs to take away from the narrative of the story So we used a bit of the text from the diaries set to instrumental musicrdquo she elaboratesTo shape its music she reached out to Navin Kumar aka Flute Navin in Chennai ldquoI knew the approach needed for certain portions For instance a malahari raga for the patra pravesham introduction and for the holocaust I wanted some elements of a jathi I left the definition of the structure and compositions up to himrdquo she revealsA moment from the performanceThe Mumbai performance today is a return home for Natrajan who grew up in the outskirts of the city in the suburb of Kalyan ldquoInterpreting a modern text might seem idiosyncratic but it is not new If you look at it Bharatanatyam as a language of expression you can use it to express anythingrdquo she concludesON Today 7 pmAT G5A Warehouse Laxmi Mills Estate Shakti Mills Lane Mahalaxmi WestLOG ON TO districtinEntry Rs 499Also check outMalavika Sarukkai unravels the secrets to Aharya Abhinaya and its idiom in the classical form at this talkON Today 11 amAT Dilip Piramal Art Gallery NCPA Nariman PointLOG ON TO ncpamumbaicomEntry First comefirst serveJoin in to shake a leg at this daylong event celebrating every dance formON Today 10 am onwards AT Eternal Motives Performing Arts Studio 606 Lodha Supremes Wagle Estate Thane WestCALL 7304784075LOG ON TO inbookmyshowcomEntry Rs 49 onwardsA contemporary movement performance Dhrut explores the concept of time dilation in space through danceON April 30 8 pmAT Prithvi Theatre 20 Juhu Church Road JuhuLOG ON TO prithvitheatreorgEntry Rs 350atOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params