Dance of the ‘door’

Veteran dansuese Vani Ganapathy will be presenting her much-acclaimed piece Dwaaram at the NCPA this week.

‘What if the door could speak ’ — this was the question that veteran dancer Vani Ganapathy was mulling over back in 2007. While such questions do trouble everyone from time to time, it takes a master of the dance craft like Vani to conjure an entire performance based on this simple idea. Currently in Mumbai to present her highly acclaimed piece — Dwaaram — Vani will soon be seen evoking a multitude of emotions from her audience at the Tata Theatre, NCPA.

Telling us about the performance, Vani says, “I have performed a number of times in Mumbai before, be it at Shanmukananda Hall or Chembur Fine Arts. But this performance will be different for a number of reasons. One is that this will be the first time I will be peforming in the southern part of Mumbai and the other is that this piece is unlike any other piece I’ve done before. It is much less technical and is in fact more of a theatrical presentation than a dance recital.

It is full of stories and emotions ranging from humour to sadness to mundanity and thisis also why I am excited about performing in front of an audience that is not your usual connoissuers of dance.”

Sharing with us how Dwaaram was conceived, Vani explains, “It is really the beauty of dance that even the mundane can be made extraordinary. I had just come back after seeing a wonderful performance and I was sleeping in my room looking at the ceiling. Suddenly my view shifted towards the door and I wondered what it would say if it could speak. They exist for generations and so many people and emotions walk through them day in day out, but we never really think about this. I immediately went to my mother, who was my closest confidante and used to think with me about plans and performances. I told her about this idea of conceptualising a performance centred around the door. She was very enthused about it and we worked on it for sometime. However, she passed away just a year after and I had put the idea on the back-burner. It was only much later that my friends convinced me to finish it. I feel that this will be a tribute to my mother, who was my enduring symbol of strength.”

Divided into five parts, Dwaaram utilises the true theatrical essence of Bharathanatyam, says Vani. “That is the reason why we wanted to present it at the Tata Theatre. While it is usually considered a place for plays, Dwaaram is much closer to theatre than traditional dance. My intention is to draw newer audiences into the fold of classical dance — especially from the younger generation. And this will be perfect for that cause because it is not only very easy to follow, it is also fast-paced and keeps young and fickle audiences engaged with stories and humour.”

Talking about her synergy with her co-performer Sathyanarayana Raju, Vani says, “Initially, Dwaaram was conceived as a one person act. But one of my close friends, who convinced me to reinvent this idea after my mother’s passing, suggested that it will be more engaging to add a male side to it and also suggested Sathya’s name. And a big part of the credit for how the performance has shaped up must go to him as well. Not only did he respond and reciprocate to my ideas, he was also the one who took them forward. I had just mooted that may be we could use props of doors to better symbolise the concept of the play, and Sathya would sit and draw different ways to place the doors and came up with the idea for the beautiful props that we have now. His addition has added a lot more to this piece and without help from him and my friends, especially Monica (Lakhmana, whose foundation is presenting Dwaaram in Mumbai) I wouldn’t have been able to put up this performance.”

On March 17, 7 pm, At Tata Theatre, NCPA, Nariman Point Entry: Rs 300 — Rs 600.