An ode to Chandralekha on death anniversary

Dancer Chandralekha was instrumental in putting contemporary Indian dance on the world map with her ten landmark productions in 20 years. Inspite of being trained in bharatanatyam, she went on to explore and define contemporary dance for India. 

Her productions integrated elements from diverse Indian physical traditions including kalari payattu, yoga and explored abstract content. She, along with artist Dashrath Patel and writer Sadanand Menon, created a performance place, SPACES, a lush green sanctuary bathed in sunlight that breathes life into its many trees. It is used as a venue for experimental work in theatre and dance by a variety of artistes. 

Classes on Carnatic music, bharatanatyam, yoga and kalaripayattu are held regularly here. During the recent cyclone, the Kalari arena in SPACES suffered severe damage but received a flood of voluntary support. To mark the death anniversary of the dancer-choreographer-writer, a series of special programmes have been organised at SPACES. 

On Wednesday evening Carnatic musician TM Krishna performed a concert. He was accompanied by RK Shriramkumar on violin and K Arun Prakash on mri dangam. Chandralekha’s last work, Sharira will be performed by Shaji John and Tishani Doshi to the accompaniment of live dhru pad music by the Gundecha Brothers will be brought to life. 

On Friday there will be a presentation of a 25-minute extract from Chandralekha’s Sri as a discussion piece to reflect on her feminist and choreographic concerns. There will also be a discussion with the audience, led by dancers Padmini Chettur, Meera Krishnamurthy and Krishna Devanandan.