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REVIEW / REPORTEncounter - An Interdisciplinary exploration of land, injustice and resistance- Dr Rohini Dandavatee-mail: dandavate2@gmail.com October 11, 2026 Sindhoor Natya's Navarasa, led by Dr. Aparna Sindhoor, in collaboration with Anil Natyaveda and S. M. Raju, presented Encounter, in San Francisco on September 27, 2026. A compelling interdisciplinary work, it is inspired by Mahasweta Devi's powerful story Draupadi, based on the struggles of the indigenous woman Dopdi Mejhen.  The three conceptualizers - Aparna, Anil, and Raju - draw from Dopdi's story to create a work that extends beyond an individual narrative of oppression and resistance. They weave together a rich spectrum of human emotions - love, hatred, joy, fear, anguish, resilience, and struggle - with larger questions of environmental preservation, forced land acquisition, displacement, and the injustices experienced by Indigenous communities. In Encounter, the personal and the political, the human and the ecological, become deeply interconnected. At the center of the work is the relationship between Indigenous communities and their land. The destruction of natural environments and the acquisition of ancestral lands are not presented simply as environmental concerns; they become violations of livelihood, cultural memory, identity, belonging, and dignity. The land itself assumes an almost living presence - one that nurtures, sustains, witnesses, and ultimately bears the scars of exploitation. Environmental destruction therefore becomes inseparable from social injustice. What makes Encounter particularly significant as an interdisciplinary work is the way its diverse artistic vocabularies are brought together in service of this larger conceptual framework. Bharatanatyam, Kalaripayattu, theatre, yoga, acrobatics, and music do not function as separate stylistic components. Instead, they converge to create an embodied language through which the emotional and physical dimensions of the narrative can be experienced. The strength, vulnerability, resistance, and resilience of the human body become metaphors for the larger struggle between people, power, and the forces that seek to control the land.  The work thus demonstrates the potential of interdisciplinarity to make traditional artistic forms responsive to contemporary realities without diminishing their individual identities. Each form contributes its distinctive vocabulary while participating in a larger theatrical and conceptual whole. Movement communicates what words cannot; physicality conveys the violence and vulnerability of displacement; music shapes the emotional landscape; and theatre situates these experiences within a larger social narrative. Most importantly, Encounter does not treat environmental preservation as an isolated ecological issue. It reveals its connections to questions of justice, displacement, cultural survival, human dignity, and our responsibility toward the natural world. By transforming these complex issues into an embodied and emotionally resonant experience, the work encourages the audience to encounter - not merely observe - the consequences of exploitation and indifference.  The presentation left the audience deeply moved. It brought into sharp focus the human cost of environmental destruction and displacement, while prompting reflection on the ways in which social and ecological injustices are interconnected. Encounter ultimately demonstrates how the performing arts can create awareness not through didactic explanation alone, but by enabling audiences to feel, question, and encounter the realities of others.  Dr. Rohini Dandavate is a distinguished practitioner of Odissi dance and a scholar in the field of Cultural Policy and Arts Administration, holding a doctorate from The Ohio State University. Born and raised in Cuttack, Odisha, she received her training in Odissi at Kala Vikash Kendra under the guidance of revered gurus including Dr. Menaka Thakkar, Guru Raghunath Dutta, Guru Ramani Ranjan Jena, and Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. Blending academic insight with artistic practice, Dr. Dandavate designs workshops and curricula for educational institutions and community organizations that promote cultural diversity through the lens of traditional arts. She has produced multimedia resources to support Odissi dance education and authored numerous papers on Odissi, arts administration, cultural policy, and dance education. |
