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 Quest - Priya Venkataraman e-mail: priya_venkataraman@hotmail.com Photo credit: Innee Singh August 12, 2024 QUEST - A journey of Untold Stories, telling tales of courage, freedom and resilience was staged at the Stein Auditorium on August 1, 2024. Quest was directed by Jayashree Acharya, a senior Kathak exponent and guru, originally from Ayodhya and trained initially under Pt Sant Gopal Mishra. Jayashree subsequently joined the Kathak Kendra in Delhi and continued her training under illustrious Gurus Reba Vidyarthi and Pt Birju Maharaj. Having acquired a strong foundation, Jayashree and her musician-husband Shiv Shankar Ray established Rasik Performing Arts in Gurugram, an institution which has been training students in Kathak dance and music for over twenty five years.  This 45 minute fast paced production was conceived and choreographed by Jayashree along with Shohini Dutta and Elisha Garg. Dutta is a dancer, teacher, choreographer and festival director, with a passion for bringing diverse arts together. She has also been Assistant Artistic Director of The Danceworx. Elisha Deep Garg was trained in Kathak by Pt. Birju Maharaj. Excellent music composition by Shiv Shankar Ray added lustre to the entire production. When I spoke to Jayashree, she said, “While we tend to use our face to convey emotions in classical Indian dance styles, contemporary dance uses the entire body and I was interested in specifically delving into this aspect.” Quest merged Indian classical and contemporary dance to tell the extraordinary stories of courage and determination of three incredible women - a cancer survivor, an acid attack victim and a victim and survivor of human trafficking. “By bringing these marginalised stories to the forefront, we hope to inspire meaningful change and work towards a more inclusive and compassionate world. We are on a Quest for inclusivity, acceptance and compassion,” says the director Ms. Acharya. As a young child participating in the Republic Day tableaux dances, Jayashree was always intrigued as the pageant went by the city’s infamous red-light area on G.B. Road. That vision stayed in her sub-conscious mind and had ever since piqued her curiosity about the lives of women living in those confines. Her brother’s fight against cancer had made Jayashree realize and experience, the enormity of this dreaded disease and the bitter battle for life that cancer victims have to endure while trying to muster the energy and will power to fight.  Jayashree Acharya In Quest, she decided to elaborate on the trials and tribulations of women trapped unexpectedly in the most dreaded moments of life. Throughout the well-knit production the evocative music aided the dancers in bringing out their best. The music was composed by Shiv Shankar Ray with assistance from Pratip Banerjee. The production ended with the three dancers vocalizing excerpts from “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou, an apt culmination reflecting the grit and determination of these women and their indomitable spirit. Lighting by Gobind Singh Yadav was sensitive despite the over use of haze. The full hall at Stein was moved to tears and gave the dancers a well-deserved standing ovation. What really touched everyone was the presence of Shabnam, Pooja and Shaina - acid attack survivors, and Anchal, the head of One Stop Centre and a cancer survivor. Costumes by designer Sandhya Raman were stunning and enhanced the entire production.  Priya Venkataraman, a Bharatanatyam dancer, teacher and choreographer based in Gurugram, has been performing for over three decades. |
