Tagore’s works have inspired and influenced various kinds of works for several decades. Not just his dance dramas that are extremely popular and relevant till date, his writings in the form of poems, short stories, ballads, dramas and songs have inspired movement artists to create and recreate to express in their own ways the vision and philosophy of Tagore. The productions have depicted very many dimensions of Tagorean philosophy expressed through dance.
With the inspiration and under the aegis of Prof. Dr. Somnath Sinha, eminent theatre personality, several Tagore productions have been created over a few decades. These works of finesse by the duo have captured the audience and enthralled them for years together.
The production is a choreography based on the collection of poems titled Bharat Tirtha (The Pilgrimage India) by Tagore. It is composed on the theme of unity and diversity of India integrating the different classical and folk dances of the country.
This production is conceived on Tagore’s writings on the philosophy of lights. Alo is a creation of multi-imagination of artists of our times. Six songs on lights written by Tagore is selected and music- imagination on the philosophy of these six songs is conceived by the famaous sitar-maestro Dipak Choudhury. The choreography takes in imagination of the choreographer with these songs and tunes and a completely new dimension is achieved on the thinking of lights.
Only selected poems of Bengali Gitanjali were translated by Tagore for his English version Song Offerings, which won the Nobel Prize. In search for true spiritual freedom few verses from English version is selected for our presentation, The Bengali version songs of these have been grafted along with narrative acting on those verses to keep the true flavor of Tagore writings, along with the valuable creation of the tune. Gitanjali speaks of one’s identity in the world and one’s relationship with the ultimate. The production is into three phases- Offerings to the Almighty (atmasampbhasana), Offerings to Nature (prakritisambhasana), and Offerings to Nation (deshasambhasana). The production utilizes the kathaka and the tarja traditional theatre acting techniques and movements for choreography are derived freely from Classical and other traditional dances of India.
In Tagore’s world of thought the flute and its melody, though maintaining the world of reality, help us reach another level of aesthetic awareness. The choreography puts forward the daily life of human beings and search of eternal freedom on the song collection. It was telecast by Indian Television in the National Program of Dance and Music on the eve of Tagore’s birth Anniversary in 2000. It was selected for the cultural events during Soccer World Cup in South Korea in 2002.
Prof. Dr. Sruti Bandopadhay is one of the foremost Manipuri Dance artists of India, having awarded the ‘Top’ Grade by National Television. Trained under such famous personalities like Guru Bipin Singh, Kalavati Devi, Darshana Jhaveri, Ojha Babu Singh, Ojha Gourakisor Sharma, Prof. Jiten Singh, she has performed in various national and international festivals for last 30 years. She is a recognized artist of Sangeet Natak Academy, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Eastern Zonal Cultural Center and other cultural institutions in India.
