the goan I network
PANAJI
Day 3 of the Serendipity Arts Festival (SAF) on Tuesday saw a variety of contemporary dance performances, visual arts exhibitions and diverse music which blurred the boundaries between contemporary practice and traditional art forms.
The section “The Landscapes of Human Emotions” saw a performance by India’s first transgender Bharatnatyam dancer Dr Narthaki Nataraj. Nataraj depicted the story of those devotees who have gone beyond the norms of this world and have united with the divine.
Nataraj, who hails from the transgender community of Tamil Nadu, has performed internationally as well.
In the theatre section, “Bhaagi hui ladkiyaan” play was staged at the Big Black, Inox Courtyard, Old GMC. It was curated by Atul Kumar.
The performance attempted to highlight the contrast between the confining yet comfortable quality of the home space and the liberating aspects of the outside world. The differences between ‘Who I am’ and ‘How people see me’ guided the explorations that the performers embarked on.
Other highlights included Bandish Antaakshari and Daastaan Live at the Parade Ground. Bandish Antaakshari, a performance-based game, portrays compositions (bandish) from the Hindustani art music tradition through antaakshari, a recreational pastime that revolves around popular music from films. It seeks to make traditional repertoire accessible to uninitiated audiences without diluting the former.
Meanwhile, Dastaan Live is an art-rock project that brings together the world of the aural and the visual to deliver a one-of-a-kind experience for audiences. It strives to discover new ways to make this project increasingly immersive for audiences, creating spaces for dialogue and interpretations and compelling people above all, to think.
