JEEVATHMA, A Bharatanatyam Performance

Peaking Into The Soul Through Dance - JEEVATHMA, A Bharatanatyam Performance

There is more to dance than meets the eye, and often, the best form of dance, touches the soul. In the Indian performing arts, this idea is conveyed through ‘natya’, which is the amalgamation of music, dance and drama.

The Mahavidya Dance Theatre, will bring ‘natya’ to live in a special Bharatanatyam performance called Jeevathma (the soul or essence of Life in Sanskrit) which introduces the audience to the priciples underpinning natya, using theatre and dance.

Bharatanatyam draws its traditions from the ancient temple art forms of India, where ‘natya’ was traditionally designed not to just to entertain, but also to educate both the dancer and the audience on the rich philosophical thought of ancient India, the ultimate goal being to understand oneself (self-realisation).

Do not be intimidated that you will not be able to understand the storytelling as the performance is conveyed through role play by the narrator, to explain the concepts behind natya, alternating with dance (Bharatanatyam). Among the roles the narrator takes on is Garuda, the legendary bird in Indian mythology.

Sheela Raghavan-Tan, Mahavidya Dance Theatre’s co-founder and choreographer and a veteran performer who was voted best dancer in the Bharatanatyam category at a national dance competition in 2002 and conferred the Natya Vithagar award in India in 2008, leads a team of ten dancers, aged between nine and 24. Music selection is by Nirmala Raghavan, an award-winning bilingual writer and Indian music and dance critic.

Mahavidya Dance Theatre is a non-profit dance school that promotes arts to all youth, irrespective of their social-economic backgrounds.

Admission to Jeevathma is free but donations are most welcomed at the door and all proceeds from concerts are used to support the teaching of classical arts to less privileged students, which is into its 17th year.